Why Tom Homan’s role as Trump’s new “border czar” matters

Chances are, most Americans have never heard the name Tom Homan. Given the role he will soon assume in Donald Trump’s second administration, he will likely soon be far more well-known. NBC News reported:

“I am pleased to announce that former ICE Director and loyal border enforcement expert Tom Homan will be joining the Trump Administration in charge of our nation’s borders (“Border Czar”), including but not limited to the southern border , Northern border, all maritime and air security,” Trump wrote in a message posted on his social media platform.

“I have known Tom for a long time and there is no one better able to monitor and control our borders,” the letter continues. “Similarly, Tom Homan will be responsible for all deportations of illegal aliens back to their country of origin. Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt that he will do a fantastic and long-awaited job.”

The president-elect’s trust is misplaced.

As Rachel explained on the show a few weeks ago, Homan is largely seen as the architect of Trump’s policy of tearing children away from their parents at the border. He also happens to be one of the Republicans who helped draft the right-wing Project 2025 blueprint.

At a radical rally in Pennsylvania last month, Homan also publicly pledged: “I will carry out the largest deportation operation this country has ever seen.”

Five weeks later, Trump appointed him the country’s “border czar.”

Before Election Day, the Republican candidate boasted about his vision of mass deportations – apparently through militarized deportations and mass detention camps – although some of his allies in Congress have suggested in the aftermath of the election that the actual policy will be less extreme. For example, on CNN’s “State of the Union,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan said the new administration intended to focus on “migrants here who have committed crimes.”

On NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso made similar comments, telling host Kristen Welker about deportations: “We’re talking about people who are part of criminal cartels, about drug dealers, about people on the…”terrorist watch list.”

However, there are some reasons to be skeptical of these efforts to downplay the scope of the policy to come. On the one hand, it contradicts this Trump’s first term agenda.

On the other hand, Homan has already made it clear that his focus is wouldn’t be limited to dangerous criminals. For example, in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired a few weeks ago, the new “border czar” was asked if there was a way to carry out mass deportations without separating families.

“Of course there is,” he replied. “Families can be deported together.”

In the same interview, Homan suggested that children who are American citizens should also expect to pack up and move to a foreign country if their parents are undocumented.

There was a time not long ago when Republicans shied away from such positions because they feared a backlash from Latino voters. But in 2024, Trump ran on a reactionary, anti-immigrant platform and still made dramatic gains among Latino voters.

Ron Brownstein has written quite a bit about this for The Atlantic, explaining that Trump has reason to believe he can “achieve the best of both worlds politically”: The Republican can energize xenophobic, far-right voters with his anti-immigrant agenda. Add to that votes from Immigrant communities who either don’t know or don’t care about his hateful vision.

Against this background, Homan receives a radical mandate from the elected president. Watch this area.