Tom Homan

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President-elect Trump announced on November 10, 2024, that Homan would be joining the incoming administration as the "border czar", [34] [35] [1] writing that "Homan will be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin." [36] Trump planned on using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 in efforts to deport illegal immigrants. [37]

In February 2025, Hatewatch reported that Homan met multiple times with Proud Boys associate Terry Newsome. Two of these encounters occurred after the 2024 United States presidential election, presumably to discuss mass deportation. The Southern Poverty Law Center noted that "Homan was also a guest on Newsome’s podcast in October 2024 and was a featured speaker at an anti-immigration event Newsome hosted in Chicago in June 2024." [38]

Also in February 2025, while appearing with New York City mayor Eric Adams on the Fox News program Fox & Friends to discuss Adams' cooperation with ICE on immigration issues, Homan said "If he doesn't come through, I'll be back in New York City, and we won't be sitting on the couch—I'll be in his office, up his butt, saying, 'Where the hell is the agreement we came to?'" [39]

The same month, Homan got into a dispute with New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over Ocasio-Cortez educating immigrants about their constitutional rights, which Homan claims "impedes" law enforcement. Homan said that he has asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether Ocasio-Cortez's actions are considered to impede ICE and she can potentially be prosecuted, telling Fox News host Laura Ingraham "maybe AOC's gonna be in trouble now." In response to Homan's comment, Ocasio-Cortez left a mocking response on social media that stated "MaYbe shE's goiNg to be in TroUble nOw. Maybe he can learn to read. The Constitution would be a good place to start." [40]

In March 2025, two planeloads of people alleged to be Venezuelan gang members by the Trump administration were deported to El Salvador, defying a court order blocking the deportations. [41] [42] Homan told the media that the administration completed the deportations despite the court order, because the court order was made when the planes were above international waters after departing the United States. Homan also declared regarding deportations: "Another flight every day. [...] We are not stopping. I don't care what the judges think." [41]

On April 17, 2025, Homan was interviewed by Kaitlan Collins about the deportation of American citizens to foreign prisons. He said that was "out of his lane" and threw the question over to Attorney-General Pam Bondi. [43]

The Trump administration has said that around 140,000 people had been deported as of April 2025, though some estimates put the number at roughly half that amount. [44]

On May 27, Washington Post reported that Homan has disclosed consulting fees from the GEO Group, [45] one of the two publicly traded companies that profit from Trump's remigration policy. [46]

Homan has been critical of U.S. citizens and others actively using their constitutional and legal rights, and of Americans sharing knowledge of their rights, framing it as "defiance", and said people knowing their rights was harmful to law enforcement activities. [47]

Personal life

Homan has described himself as "a lifelong Catholic", [48] has been described as "a devout mass-goer", and was critical of Pope Francis' position on immigration. [49] He is married to Elizabeth Homan and they have four children together. [50]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Annual Report to Congress on White House Office Personnel" (PDF). White House. July 1, 2025.
  2. "Man of the Year Award". National Police Defense Foundation. Archived from the original on May 8, 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  3. "Tom Homan - White House (Jan. 2025-), Chief Immigration Enforcement Officer- Biography | LegiStorm". LegiStorm . Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  4. McDonald, Matthew (November 19, 2024). "Border Czar Tom Homan: Faith and Policy at a Crossroads". National Catholic Register. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Planas, Roque (April 13, 2018). "Trump Hired A Cop To Run ICE. It Didn't Work Out". HuffPost. Retrieved January 21, 2025.
  6. Molongoski, Brian (December 4, 2024). "Trump appoints West Carthage native as ICE director". Watertown Daily Times .
  7. 1 2 3 Nixon, Ron (January 31, 2017). "Trump Names Thomas Homan as Acting Immigration Enforcement Chief". The New York Times . Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  8. 1 2 "Tom Homan - The U.S. Border Czar - SRS #200". YouTube. May 15, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Dickerson, Caitlin (August 7, 2022). "An American Catastrophe". The Atlantic . Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  10. Rein, Lisa (April 25, 2016). "Meet the man the White House has honored for deporting illegal immigrants". The Washington Post . Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  11. "5 things to know about ICE Director Thomas Homan". ABC 10. March 28, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  12. Multiple sources:
  13. Dickerson, Caitlin (May 18, 2017). "Immigration Arrests Rise Sharply as a Trump Mandate Is Carried Out". The New York Times . p. A22. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  14. Kopan, Tal (June 16, 2017). "ICE Director: Undocumented Immigrants 'Should be Afraid'". CNN . Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  15. Mark, Michelle (June 28, 2017). "ICE Director Appears to Break with One of Trump's Key Beliefs on Immigrants and Crime". Business Insider . Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  16. Shayanian, Sara (November 14, 2017). "Donald Trump nominates Tom Homan as ICE director". UPI. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  17. Conradis, Brandon (January 2, 2018). "Trump ICE pick: Politicians who run sanctuary cities should be charged with crimes". The Hill . Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  18. Rhodan, Maya (June 5, 2018). "Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Defends Separating Families at the Border". Time. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  19. Rod, Marc (June 19, 2018). "Acting ICE director on whether 'zero tolerance' policy is humane: 'It's the law'". CNN . Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  20. Bernal, Rafael (April 30, 2018). "Acting ICE director to retire". The Hill. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  21. Blitzer, Jonathan (June 24, 2019). "ICE Agents Are Losing Patience with Trump's Chaotic Immigration Policy". The New Yorker . ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  22. Kaufman, Elle (July 12, 2019). "Former ICE official trades heated words with lawmakers at hearing". CNN . Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  23. "Trump picks Tom Homan for 'border czar'". November 11, 2024.
  24. "Tom Homan's Must-Read Book on Immigration".
  25. Savage, Charlie; Haberman, Maggie; Swan, Jonathan (November 11, 2023). "Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump's 2025 Immigration Plans". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 5, 2024.
  26. Leingang, Rachel (December 9, 2024). "Project 2025: the Trump picks with ties to ultra-rightwing policy manifesto". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  27. Mathias, Christopher (March 3, 2022). "White Nationalists with lanyards: Orlando showed the ugly future of the Republican Party". HuffPost . Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  28. Kieffer, Caleb (November 3, 2022). "Former ICE Chief Taps Anti-Muslim Hate Group To Help Run Border-Focused Project". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  29. Weigel, David (July 9, 2024). "Trump's 'national conservative' allies plot a revenge administration". Semafor . Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  30. Mathias, Christopher (July 18, 2024). "He Went To A White Supremacist Conference. He Just Spoke At The RNC". HuffPost . Archived from the original on July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
  31. Treisman, Rachel (November 11, 2024). "What to know about Tom Homan, the former ICE head returning as Trump's 'border czar'". NPR . Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  32. "Tom Homan's financial ties to private prison locking up immigrants raise questions". MSNBC.com. May 28, 2025. Retrieved May 29, 2025.
  33. MacMillan, Douglas; Schaffer, Aaron (May 27, 2025). "Trump's border czar earned consulting fees from immigrant detention firm". The Washington Post.
  34. Collins, Kaitlan (November 10, 2024). "Trump announces Tom Homan, his former acting ICE director, will be administration's 'Border Czar'". CNN . Retrieved November 10, 2024.
  35. Samuels, Brett (November 11, 2024). "Trump names former ICE director Homan 'border czar'". The Hill. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  36. Ives, Mike (November 11, 2024). "Trump Names Thomas Homan 'Border Czar' With a Wide Portfolio". The New York Times . Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  37. Marcus, Josh; Rhian, Lubin (November 11, 2024). "Trump rehires Tom Homan, father of family separation policy, as border czar". The Independent . Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  38. Tischauser, Jeff (February 7, 2025). "Head of Trump's Immigration Plans Met Proud Boys Associate About Deportations". Southern Poverty Law Center . Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  39. Graham, David A. (February 14, 2025). "The Public Humiliation of Eric Adams". The Atlantic . Retrieved February 16, 2025.
  40. Zehra, Ailia (February 17, 2025). "Homan says he's asked DOJ whether Ocasio-Cortez is impeding ICE". The Hill . Retrieved February 18, 2025.
  41. 1 2 Saric, Ivana (March 17, 2025). "Trump's border czar: "I don't care what the judges think"". Axios. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  42. Smith, Mataeo (March 27, 2025). "Trump sends innocent man to El Salvador for having autism awareness tattoo". Irish Star. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  43. "Border Czar Squirms Trying to Defend Trump's Plot to Jail Americans Overseas". April 18, 2025.
  44. Villagran, Lauren. "White House touts nearly 140,000 deportations, but data says roughly half actually deported". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on May 9, 2025. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  45. MacMillan, Douglas; Schaffer, Aaron (May 27, 2025). "Trump's border czar earned consulting fees from immigrant detention firm". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved May 30, 2025.
  46. "Private prison stocks jump on Trump appointment of immigration hard-liner Tom Homan". CNBC . November 11, 2024. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
  47. Myers, Quinn; Lierderman, Mack (January 29, 2025). "Chicago 'Very Well Educated' In Defying ICE, Border Czar Says As Immigration Crackdown Leads To 100+ Arrests". Block Club Chicago . Archived from the original on January 28, 2025. And while immigrant communities are on edge, President Donald Trump's hand-picked 'border czar' Tom Homan said outreach efforts by immigration advocates in Chicago and elsewhere — such as 'Know Your Rights' workshops and pamphlets — are 'making it very difficult' to arrest people. 'Sanctuary cities are making it very difficult to arrest the criminals. For instance Chicago, very well educated, they've been educated how to defy ICE, how to hide from ICE,' 'Homan said. 'They call it 'Know Your Rights.' I call it how to escape arrest.'
  48. Sentner, Iris (April 18, 2025). "JD Vance to spend Easter in Rome amid tiff with Pope Francis". Politico . Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  49. McDonald, Matthew (November 19, 2024). "Border Czar Tom Homan: Faith and Policy at a Crossroads". National Catholic Register. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  50. Sarkar, Ishani (February 21, 2025). "Meet the family of Donald Trump's 'border tsar', Tom Homan". South China Morning Post. Retrieved March 27, 2025.

Notes

  1. Homan initially held the position of Acting Director. Following his nomination to become official Director on November 14, 2017, Homan became Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director to comply with the Vacancies Act, and held said title until his retirement.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Thomas D. Homan at Wikimedia Commons

Tom Homan
Thomas Homan (54235503219) (cropped).jpg
Homan in 2024
White House Border Czar [1]
Assumed office
January 20, 2025
Government offices
Preceded byas acting director Acting Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
2017–2018
Succeeded byas acting director