For much of his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump attacked Vice President Kamala Harris for her performance in a position that neither she nor anyone else in the Biden administration held: “border czar.” Trump has now established and filled the role for his incoming government. Trump said that Tom Homan will assume the position in a Truth Social post on November 10th, assigning him responsibility for “the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all maritime, and aviation security.” Homan worked in immigration enforcement for more than 30 years, including during the first Trump administration. Additionally, he advocated for Trump’s controversial zero-tolerance policy, which caused families to be split up at the southwest border.
Homan’s role in shaping Trump’s immigration policies
Homan will spearhead mass deportations, one of Trump’s key campaign pledges, in his new position.
“Tom Homan will be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their Country of origin,”
stated the tweet by Trump. Before joining the US Border Patrol, Homan started his career in New York as a local police officer in 1983. Additionally, Homan worked for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was the forerunner to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In 2013, during the second term of former President Barack Obama, Homan assumed leadership of the deportation division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over 432,000 people were deported by the agency in that fiscal year, more than in any other year of Trump’s presidency and more than in any other fiscal year under Obama. Obama gave Homan the 2015 Distinguished Presidential Rank distinction, “the nation’s highest civil service award,” according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, “which is bestowed to leaders who’ve achieved sustained extraordinary results.” Advocates for immigrants called Obama the “deporter in chief.”
Advocating for tougher border security and enforcement
Trump appointed Homan as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in January 2017. Homan never received a confirmation hearing in the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Democrats complained to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2018 that the department had failed to provide information regarding Homan to the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee. In 2018, Homan retired from federal service. In a phone interview with Fox News in June 2019, Trump claimed to have appointed Homan as “border czar.” Homan, however, never took on such a role. Following his departure from federal service, Homan founded Border 911, a nonprofit group that claims to inform “the American people about the facts of a non-secure border.” Homan started contributing to Fox News in August 2018. Additionally, Homan became a visiting fellow at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation in February 2022. The group’s Project 2025, a conservative policy framework for a Republican presidential administration, lists him as a contributor.
Homan’s support and controversial statements
Homan was one of the individuals who put forth the “zero-tolerance” policy, which called for the prosecution of adults who entered the country illegally and resulted in the separation of parents from children while serving as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. While the parents were being prosecuted, the children were either housed in a shelter or placed in the care of a sponsor, such as a foster family or relative. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Homan proposed the strategy, but Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson rejected it, according to a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece published by The Atlantic. During the Trump administration, he made another proposal for the program. Homan told Nielsen, “I recommended zero-tolerance,” during a Senate hearing in July 2019.
| Category | Detail |
| Background | Before becoming director, he held many leadership roles during his more than thirty years of service with ICE. |
| Role as ‘Border Czar’ | Appointed in 2017 by Donald Trump to supervise the border security initiatives of the administration. |
| Mass Deportation Stance | Strongly supports mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, calling for swift removal processes. |
| Statements on Deportation | Homan has underlined that strict enforcement of the law is necessary to discourage unlawful immigration. |
| Impact on US Immigration Policy | The stringent immigration policies of the Trump administration have been impacted by Homan’s beliefs and behavior. |
| Legacy at ICE | Oversaw the substantial growth of deportation enforcement and ICE operations. |
The impact of men’s leadership on ICE operations
On July 12, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington, former Acting Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan takes the oath of office before appearing before the House Oversight Committee hearing on family separation and detention facilities. The strategy resulted in the separation of over 5,000 children from their parents. Trump issued an executive order in June 2018 that kept parents and children together while they were in custody. The zero-tolerance policy was revoked by the administration of Joe Biden.
