Trump names his border czar, revealing he means business

President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday that former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement Thomas D. Homan will serve as "border czar" in his incoming administration.

"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'), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security," Trump noted on Truth Social.

"I've known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders. Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin," continued Trump. "Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job."

Homan, the president and CEO of Border911, has proven himself to be a no-nonsense law enforcement official, unwavering in his belief that like other criminals, illegal aliens "should be afraid" when flouting America's laws.

Trump promoted Homan to acting ICE director in January 2017, then nominated him as director. According to the New York Times, illegal immigration arrests skyrocketed 38% under Homan from Jan. 22 to April 29, as compared with the previous year under former President Barack Obama, who gave him the government's highest civil service award in 2015.

"These statistics reflect President Trump's commitment to enforce our immigration laws fairly and across the board," Homan said at the time.

Extra to criticizing so-called sanctuary cities and demonstrating a willingness to go after any of the tens of millions of illegal aliens who had stolen into the homeland, Homan helped blow up Democrats' family-separation talking point, underscoring that the U.S. has separated minors and adults at the border for over three decades.

'I got down on my knees, put my hand on the child's head, and said a prayer.'

When Homan — whose Senate confirmation never came — retired in April 2018, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stated,

Under his exceptional leadership, the men and women of ICE have made significant progress in restoring the rule of law to our immigration system. Consistent with the priorities set out by President Trump, the past year has seen arrests increase by 40 percent, interior removals increase by 30 percent, and the highest number of MS-13 arrests since 2008. But perhaps most important to Tom is that employee morale at ICE is the highest it has been since 2010, which I believe is due in large part to his passionate leadership.

While the liberal media has attempted in recent years to characterize Homan as callous, he revealed to the Atlantic in 2022 that his desire to end illegal immigration and secure the border was not born solely out of a sense of duty to the nation and his fellow citizens but also out of a sense of humanitarian responsibility to would-be border-jumpers.

In 2003, he was reportedly called to a crime scene in Victoria, Texas, where over 70 illegal aliens had been found crammed into a semitruck. When the trailer was opened, corpses tumbled out. Seventeen were dead, and two more would ultimately die. Among the dead was a 5-year-old boy — the same age as Homan's son at the time.

"I got down on my knees, put my hand on the child's head, and said a prayer, because I could only imagine what his last hour of life must have been like, how scared he must have been. Couldn't breathe, pitch black, begging his father to help him. His father couldn't help," said Homan. "What was his father thinking? He'd put him in that position, right? His father was probably saying, 'I can't believe I did this.'"

'What price do you put on national security?'

Homan added, "That one instance made me who I am today, because it's preventable. We could stop this."

Homan demonstrated the continued strength of his resolve in an interview last month with CBS News' "60 Minutes." When asked about the potential cost of deporting one million illegal aliens a year, Homan said, "What price do you put on national security?"

The former ICE boss further revealed a resistance to emotional manipulation.

Correspondent Cecilia Vega concern-mongered about the possibility families might be separated as a consequence of mass deportation. Homan reassured Vega, "Families can be deported together."

While Homan is likely to succeed in the position, the previous border czar, failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris, set the bar incredibly low. After all, she oversaw the illegal entry of tens of millions of foreign nationals into the country, including terroristic gang members and human traffickers.

Homan told Fox News over the weekend that the deportation campaign is "going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They're good at it."

Hear more on the subject from the "Blaze News Tonight" team in the video below:

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