Veteran Officer Takes Charge of Borders
Tom Homan, a seasoned law enforcement official with decades of experience in immigration control, is set to oversee US border management following Donald Trump’s return to the presidency in January. Homan, who previously served as the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has long been known for his hardline stance on immigration. He has called the situation at the US-Mexico border “the biggest national security vulnerability this nation has seen since 9/11” and emphasized the need for significant changes to address it.
Tom Homan’s appointment as “border tsar” is seen as a key move in Trump’s effort to curb illegal immigration, a central promise during his campaign. However, specifics on how Homan’s role will unfold remain unclear, as immigration control requires the coordination of various federal agencies. His prior statements provide some insight, as he has often spoken on strategies that would reverse current policies and restore some controversial practices.
Reversing Biden-Era Policies and Targeted Deportations
Tom Homan has signaled his intent to reverse many immigration policies put in place under President Biden. In an interview with CBS News’s 60 Minutes before the election, he mentioned plans to target non-criminal immigrants who are in the country illegally, while initially focusing on those posing public safety and national security threats. This would shift the current Biden administration’s approach, which prioritizes the deportation of serious criminals, recent border crossers, and national security threats, while offering protections for undocumented immigrants without criminal records.
Addressing the logistics of deportations, Homan clarified that sweeping mass arrests would not be part of his strategy. “It’s not gonna be a mass sweep of neighborhoods. It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous,” he said. Instead, he emphasized a more calculated method involving targeted arrests based on intelligence and investigations, ensuring that enforcement would be directed toward specific individuals.
Past Controversies and Future Directions
Tom Homan’s history includes involvement in Trump’s controversial “zero tolerance” policy, which led to the separation of thousands of migrant children from their families at the border. This policy attracted widespread criticism as parents were prosecuted while their children were held in shelters, often with no clear reunification plans. Although Homan was one of three officials who signed off on the policy memo, he later stated that he did so “hoping to save lives” and emphasized that he did not create the policy.
In his new role, Tom Homan has indicated he would not seek to reinstate family separations. Instead, he suggested that families could face deportation together, underscoring a more unified approach to enforcement that avoids the controversial aspects of past policies.
Additionally, Homan has expressed interest in reviving workplace immigration enforcement, which involves mass arrests at job sites—a practice that the Biden administration discontinued in 2021. Speaking on Fox & Friends, he defended the need for strict measures, saying, “You have the right to claim asylum. You have a right to see a judge. We make that happen. But at the end of that due process, if the judge says you must go home, then we have to take them home.”
Tom Homan’s approach will be closely watched as he assumes his new responsibilities, signaling a likely shift in US immigration enforcement that echoes Trump’s first term but with a renewed focus on targeted operations.
