President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be “border czar” is ready to execute his boss’ immigration agenda come hell or high water.
“I’ve got to go back and help because every morning I get up, every morning I’m pissed off about what this [Biden] administration did to the most secure border in my lifetime. So I’m going to go back and do what I can to fix it,” incoming Trump administration “border czar” Thomas Homan said on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning just a few hours after Trump announced his selection on the Truth Social platform late Sunday night.
Homan, who oversaw Trump’s controversial family separation policy as acting ICE director, said the enforcement will be the “same as it was during the first administration” but Americans can expect “a hell of a lot more” deportations this time.
“I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders,” Trump said in the post. “Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.”
Emphasizing public safety and national security as the top priority, Homan honed in on so-called sanctuary cities Monday, calling on state leaders to work with the Trump administration’s future attempts to crack down on “sanctuaries for criminals.”
“I have seen some of these Democratic governors say they are going to stand in the way. They are going to make it hard for us,” he said. “Well, a suggestion. If you are not going to help us, get the hell out of the way. If we can’t get assistance in New York City, we may have to double the number of agents we send to New York City. We are going to do the job. We are going to do the job without you or with you.”
Homan, who was appointed as acting ICE director in 2017 but was never confirmed by the Senate for the permanent job, said on “Fox & Friends” that his phone was inundated with texts and emails from “thousands of ICE agents and Border Patrol agents excited about the rumor” of his return. He added that retired members of the military also told him they wanted to “volunteer to help this president secure the border and do this deportation operation.”
Homan’s new “border czar” position does not require Senate confirmation.
He officially retired from ICE in 2018, though Trump announced Homan was returning as “border czar” the next year, taking Homan himself by surprise. On Monday, he said he would be “a hypocrite” to not accept the position now.
Homan told the “Fox & Friends” hosts that he has been “off the grid for three days because I couldn’t handle all the phone calls, plus all the death threats rolling in. My family is not at home right now because that is starting.”
“They are not going to bully me away, they are not going to shut me up and they are not going to make me go away,” Homan said. “This is the biggest national security vulnerability this nation has seen since 9/11 and we have to fix it.”
