WASHINGTON, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Tom Homan, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar”, said on Monday he would prioritize deporting immigrants in the United States illegally who posed safety and security threats as well as those working at job sites.
Trump, who takes office in January, said in a social media post overnight that the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from his first administration would be in charge of the country’s borders in his new administration starting Jan. 20.
The president-elect made cracking down on illegal immigration the central element of his campaign, promising mass deportations. He is expected to mobilize agencies across the U.S. government to help him deport record numbers of immigrants in an operation that Vice President-elect JD Vance has said could remove an estimated 1 million people per year.
“Public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority…they pose the most danger to this country,” Homan told Fox News in an interview, adding: “Worksite operations have to happen.”
Trump, in a post, opens new tab on his Truth Social platform late on Sunday, said Homan will be “in charge of our nation’s borders (“The Border Czar”), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security,” including the deportation of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.
Immigrant advocates have warned that Trump’s deportation effort would be costly, divisive and inhumane, leading to family separations and devastating communities.
Homan, who was often praised by Trump during the campaign and who campaigned for him, said he would also focus on immigrants ordered to leave after a failed asylum claims.
“At the end of that due process, if the judge says you must go home, then we have to take them home,” Homan told Fox.