Trump says immigration official Tom Homan will be 'border czar'
3 Min Read
US President-elect Donald Trump announces that former immigration official Thomas Homan will be joining his upcoming administration and will be in charge of the country's borders.
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Acting Director for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan takes a question from a reporter at a Department of Homeland Security news conference at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington on December 5, 2017. (AP)
US President-elect Donald Trump announced late Sunday that he would rehire Tom Homan, a tough-on-immigration official, to oversee US border operations in his upcoming administration.
The 78-year-old Republican businessman has promised to initiate the largest deportation effort in US history starting on his first day in office, targeting undocumented immigrants.
"I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation's Borders ("The Border Czar")," Trump posted on his social network Truth Social.
"I've known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders," he said, adding that Homan will be in charge of "all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin."
Trump, who has never acknowledged his loss in the 2020 election, made a historic comeback to the presidency with his win on November 5. Throughout his campaign, he relentlessly targeted undocumented immigrants, using harsh and inflammatory rhetoric, including describing them as those who were "poisoning the blood" of the country.
Trump vows to target migrant crisis, launch 'Operation Aurora'
While the US government has faced long-standing challenges in managing its southern border with Mexico, Trump has amplified these fears, repeatedly describing the situation as an "invasion" and warning that migrants pose a threat to Americans, accusing them of being potential rapists and murderers.
During his rally speeches, Trump frequently inflated local tensions and misrepresented immigration data and policies to stir fear.
The number of US Border Patrol encounters with migrants illegally crossing from Mexico has now returned to levels similar to those in 2020, the final year of Trump's presidency, after surging to a record 250,000 encounters in December 2023.
Trump pledged to target migrant gangs using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a law that grants the federal government authority to detain and deport foreign nationals from hostile nations. This strategy was a key part of his mass deportation plan, which he dubbed "Operation Aurora."
The name "Aurora" became widely known after a viral video showed armed Latino individuals wreaking havoc in an apartment complex, sparking misleading and exaggerated stories about the town being under siege by violent Latin American migrants.
Trump has also spread the false story that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people's pets.
