President-elect Donald Trump announced late on Sunday that Tom Homan, a visible face of the policy that separated families during his first administration, will be his next "border czar."
"I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation's Borders ('The Border Czar'), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security," Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social.
"I've known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders," the post continued. "Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin. Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job."
Homan served during Trump's first term as acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for a year and a half. He is also a leading figure in Project 2025, the document which Democrats said was the policy blueprint for his second term in office, something Trump rejected due to its hardline content.
Even though Trump himself has publicly said he ignores who's behind the project, he did keep tabs on Homan as he went as far as to say back in October that the former ICE head would be a part of his team if elected. Homan is also a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and the president and CEO of Border911, a nonprofit warning of the supposed threats posed by undocumented immigrants.
Trump made of his vow to conduct "the largest deportation operation in U.S. history" a centerpiece of his campaign. Asked whether that was feasible in a recent interview, he said: "Of course there is, families can be deported together." Trump signed in 2018 a reversal of the family separation policy after public outrage, with the United Nations calling it a Human Rights violation from its inception.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed after the election that the policy will take a leading role and its implementation will begin on day 1 of the new administration: "He will restore his effective immigration policies, implement brand new crackdowns that will send shockwaves to all the world's criminal smugglers, and marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history."
Homan said deportations during the upcoming administration will be "a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They're good at it," Homan added. He said the operation will be "humane."
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