What does Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan want to do?

In 2024, as in 2016, Donald Trump campaigned hard on immigration, using violent and harsh rhetoric against migrant crime and promising to carry out mass deportations from day one of his presidency. A key figure in achieving these dark goals will be Tom Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whom Trump named his new “border czar” on Sunday.

“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 aliens back to their country of origin,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial.

During his brief tenure as head of ICE, Homan quickly became known as an immigration hardliner who supported the administration’s family separation policy as a way to deter illegal border crossings. Homan made it clear during a speech at the Republican National Convention this summer that his stance on the issue has never wavered. “As someone who has spent 34 years deporting illegal immigrants, I have a message to the millions of illegal immigrants that Joe Biden has released into our country in violation of federal law: You better start packing now.” you’re damn right. Because you’re going home,” he said.

In a series of recent interviews, Homan explained what mass deportations would look like under a Trump presidency.

Homan said the government would focus on people who pose a threat to public and national security, but suggested those categories could be expanded. He also said workplace raids and the mass arrests at construction sites that ended under the Biden administration “have to happen.”

During an appearance on CBS 60 minutes In October, he rejected the idea that such actions were “racist” in nature, saying talk of concentration camps holding prisoners was exaggerated.

During Trump’s first term, thousands of immigrant children were separated from their families while the administration’s policies were enforced. Homan was asked 60 minutes whether there would be a way to carry out mass deportations in the country without separating parents from their children. The new border tsar hinted that an even stricter policy could be introduced later. “Of course there is. Families can be deported together,” he said.

And when asked whether the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants could be deported under a Trump administration, Homan didn’t dismiss that possibility. “Her parents entered the country absolutely illegally and had a child who knew he was in the country illegally. So he caused this crisis,” he said.

Although Trump allies such as Stephen Miller have suggested that the administration would use the military and National Guard to carry out its deportation efforts, Homan rejected this and said the operation would be carried out by members of ICE. “The men and women of ICE do this every day. They’re good at it. They all have Fourth Amendment training. They know what they can and cannot do legally,” he said on Fox News Sunday.

Vice President-elect JD Vance has previously said the government should begin deporting a million people who are in the country illegally. But a report from the American Immigration Council estimates that it could cost $88 million to deport that many people each year. Homan has insisted that mass deportations over the years would ultimately save the country and taxpayers money.

By selecting Homan as one of his first personnel decisions, Trump is making clear that his immigration agenda is a top priority. For months, Homan signaled his intention to return in a second Trump administration to finish the work he started. “Trump is coming back in January, I will be on his heels and leading the largest deportation force this country has ever seen,” he said in July, according to Semafor. “You haven’t seen anything yet. Wait until 2025.”