How do some immigrants feel about Donald Trump’s presidential win?
Former President Donald Trump will take office again in 2025. How do immigrants in Washington, DC feel about his win?
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Tom Homan, the former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will become a “border czar” overseeing deportation policy for undocumented immigrants and aviation security, President-elect Donald Trump announced.
Homan was a controversial figure in Trump’s first term because he oversaw the “zero tolerance” policy that separated families of undocumented immigrants.
But he has been a vocal defender of strict immigration enforcement for Trump , who vowed a mass deportation of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants will begin on his first day in office Jan. 20.
“I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday. “Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.”
Homan served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Trump’s first term. He became a lightning rod for criticism of Trump’s efforts to seal the southern border by extending the wall, refusing entry while asylum applications were processed and immediately sending back undocumented immigrants who were caught.
CBS’ “60 Minutes” asked Homan in October whether there was any way to avoid separating families during mass deportations, if one parent was undocumented, another was a naturalized citizen and the children were born in the U.S.
“Of course there is,” Homan said. “Families can be deported together.”
Homan was a 34-year Border Patrol agent who argued that lax border enforcement under Democrats led to a surge in migrants during the Biden administration. Trump hammered Biden over immigration throughout the campaign as a flood of dangerous criminals and drugs flowing into the country.
“Every president I worked for said they were going to secure the border,” Homan told the Republican National Convention in July, after working for six presidents since Ronald Reagan. “Trump actually did it.”
“Guess what? He’s going to do it again,” Homan said.