Border czar Donald Trump: Three immigration priorities for Tom Homan

President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan to oversee the protection of all U.S. borders, a job that has three key priorities.

Homan is expected to focus on the southern border and the issues surrounding it: border security, mass deportations and the crackdown on cartels.

His role is at the forefront of immigration policy and could therefore be the key to the success or failure of the Trump administration. Promises on immigration were at the forefront of Trump's successful battle for the White House against Vice President Kamala Harris, helping him to a stunning comeback victory.

Trump, who won the popular vote for the first time in three attempts, swept all seven key battleground states in his decisive victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election, raising his Electoral College total to 312.

“I am pleased to announce that former ICE Director and trusted border enforcement expert Tom Homan is joining the Trump Administration and will be in charge of our nation’s borders (“The Border Czar”), including but not limited to the Southern Border, the northern border, all maritime and air security,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“I have known Tom for a long time and there is no one who can monitor and control our borders better. Likewise, Tom Homan will be responsible for all deportations of illegal immigrants back to their country of origin. Congratulations to Tom. I have. “No doubt he will do a fantastic and long-awaited job.”

This role does not require confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Newsweek contacted Homan through an online contact form as well as through Trump's campaign and ICE.

Who is Tom Homan?

Homan, who served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2017 and 2018, is considered one of the main architects behind the controversial family separation policy.

Known for his strong stance on immigration enforcement, he is a vocal supporter of strict border security measures and frequently defends Trump administration policies, including those focused on deportations, detentions and controversial practices such as family separations at the border.

Prior to serving as acting director, Homan had a long career in law enforcement, working on immigration and border security issues for over 30 years. He began with the U.S. Border Patrol in 1984 and eventually assumed leadership positions within ICE, focusing on enforcement and deportation operations.

His tenure at ICE and his public statements often made him a polarizing figure, drawing both support from those who favored tough immigration policies and criticism from immigrant rights advocates.

Since leaving government, Homan has been a prominent voice in immigration debates, appearing frequently on news networks, participating in public forums and advising on immigration policy issues. He is a regular commentator, particularly in conservative media, where he advocates for border security reforms and criticizes current immigration policy.

Homan has also worked for the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank behind Project 2025. He is listed as a contributor to the policy document that proposes mass detention and deportation of undocumented or illegal immigrants.

Homan said at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this year that he had “a message to the millions of illegal aliens that Joe Biden has allowed into the country in violation of federal law: Start packing, because you're going home.” “

Mass deportations

Mass deportations are a core policy of the GOP's 2024 platform, with Trump promising that millions of people will be expelled from the country from the moment he returns to office.

“I make this promise to you and I vow that November 5, 2024 will be the day of liberation in America,” Trump told supporters on October 11 as he named the mass deportation program after the existing city of Colorado City had problems with the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Trump has also repeatedly promised to shut down the CBP One app on his first day in office. “The border will be sealed. The invasion is stopped. The migrant flights will be stopped and Kamala's app for illegals will be closed immediately, within 24 hours,” he said of his first day in office.

Launched by CBP, the CBP One app serves as a digital tool to streamline and manage aspects of the immigration and asylum processes at the U.S.-Mexico border. Developed in response to the surge in border crossings, the app allows migrants to make appointments to present themselves at ports of entry. This helps manage large crowds and reduce waiting times while migrants wait for processing.

And Homan appears to be completely on track with the president-elect on this issue, saying at a panel discussion on immigration policy in July: “Trump is coming back in January; I will be on his heels when he returns and carry out the greatest deportation violence this country has ever seen.

Trump's proposed mass deportation plan could lead to a return of widespread family separations, with an estimated one in three Latinos at risk of being targeted, according to an immigration and criminal justice advocacy group.

Latino leaders warned that the harsh policies would result in families being “torn apart,” raising concerns about the human impact and social consequences of such a sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

Almost 20 million people could be directly affected.

Homan also spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he said he doesn't care about the family separation controversy.

“I’m tired of hearing about family separation,” Homan said. “I'm still getting sued over this.” He added: “I don't care, do I? The bottom line is we enforced the law.”

Homan also reportedly accepted an invitation to a white nationalist conference hosted by Nick Fuentes, the Holocaust denier and Hitler admirer who dined with Trump and Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago in 2022.

Asked whether there was a way to implement a mass deportation plan without separating families, Tom Homan said: “Of course there is. Families can be deported together.”

Family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border occurs when children are removed from their parents or guardians after entering the U.S. illegally. This was exacerbated by the Trump administration's 2018 “zero tolerance” policy, which criminalized adults crossing the border illegally. Because children are not legally allowed to remain in adult custody, they were classified as “unaccompanied minors” and sent to the Department of Health’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

Under this policy, adults were held in separate facilities to await trial, while children were placed in shelters or temporary facilities. The practice faced significant logistical problems that made family reunification difficult, particularly when parents were deported without their children. Family reunification efforts have been initiated in response to public opposition, although challenges remain due to inadequate record-keeping and coordination difficulties between authorities.

Border security

Homan will be responsible for “the southern border, the northern border, all maritime and air security,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Homan supports Trump's border wall. He believes uncontrolled immigration harms communities by increasing crime, drug trafficking and the financial burden on the United States

He argues that a strong physical barrier would significantly reduce illegal immigration and help prevent drug and human smuggling, which he says is essential to national and public security. And he appears to have the support of Trump, who said at a rally in Arizona last month that he would push Congress to increase Customs and Border Protection officials' pay and hire thousands of new agents.

The policy would include hiring 10,000 new employees, a 10 percent raise for existing agents and $10,000 in retention and signing bonuses.

This would give Homan some of the resources to help combat human trafficking and the flow of illegal drugs into the country, one of the key issues on the next administration's agenda.

Action against the cartels

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held a hearing on border security and enforcement issues in January of this year.

Homan said, “I have spent three decades investigating criminal cartels that smuggle drugs into the United States. They will choose the path of least resistance. Will they go through a port of entry where every vehicle is stopped and the driver is spoken to… between ports of entry when.” 70 to 90 percent of agents are not on the phone, and in some cases no one is on the phone. Then the criminal cartel will transport the fentanyl.”

And Homan warned Mexican cartels in a speech to the RNC back in July that Trump would “wipe them off the face of the earth.”

He also strongly warned that the Trump administration would designate Mexican cartels as “terror organizations” because they smuggle fentanyl across the southern border.