Former ICE Director Tom Homan 'Honored' to Appoint Trump's Border Czar: 'We've Got to Fix This'

Former acting ICE director Tom Homan is “honored” to be nominated as “border czar” for the incoming second Trump administration and is prepared to do whatever it takes to bring the crisis under control.

“I have been on this network for years complaining about what this government has done to this border. I screamed and screamed about it and what they needed to do to fix it. When the President asked me, 'Would you come?' go back and repair?' “Of course I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t. “I would be honored that the president would have asked me to come back and help solve this national security crisis,” he told “Fox & Friends.” “On Monday in his first interview since being hired for the position.

“I think the calling is clear,” he continued, “I have to go back and help because every morning I'm…mad about what this is all about.” [Biden] The government has damaged the most secure border in my lifetime, so I will go back and do what I can to fix it.

Trump announced his decision to tap Homan to serve in his new administration in a post on Truth Social on Sunday, filling the position currently held by Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump names former ICE director Tom Homan as next “border czar”: No one can police our borders better

Illegal border crossings rose sharply under the Biden administration, reaching nearly 3 million in fiscal year 2024, according to data Homeland Security website. Since fiscal year 2021, there have been more than 10.8 million illegal encounters.

Trump has made illegal immigration an integral theme in his campaign messaging since 2016. In this election cycle, as illegal immigrants flooded communities across the U.S. and pushed major cities like New York City into the background, he offered an alternative vision to that of the Biden-Harris administration. He focused on calls for mass deportations and the construction of border walls, as well as reinstating since-repealed executive orders from his previous term.

Homan said this hard border stance would mean prioritizing illegal immigrants who pose a threat to public safety or national security. He specifically mentioned drug cartels and sex trafficking.

The acting ICE director says mass deportations without separating families are possible if they are “deported together.”

U.S. President-elect and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the U.S.-Mexico border south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, on August 22, 2024. Trump will hold a rally in Glendale, Arizona tomorrow. (Rebecca Noble)

“I know exactly what I'm doing and this is the second time I've come out of retirement for this president because it's important. I was a border guard, I wore this uniform and I am proud that I wore this uniform. I was an ICE agent. “I was the first ICE director to come up, so I didn't ask the 20,000 men and women who worked for me to do anything that I wouldn't do myself, because I was one of them,” he said.

Since Friday, Homan has been inundated with calls, text messages and emails as rumors of his return circulate. Many came from ICE agents who he said were happy to see him return.

“But more importantly, thousands of retired agents, retired military [have called] who want to come in and volunteer to help this president secure the border and carry out this deportation operation,” Homan added.

However, death threats have also surfaced, but he remains determined not to give in to the pressure.

“We will deal with that. You won't silence me. You won't force me to leave. This is the largest national security breach this country has experienced since 9/11. We have this.” to fix it.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News' Scott McDonald contributed to this report.