Border hawk Thomas Homan is getting a prize border security job in the new administration, incoming President Donald Trump said in a message via his Truth Social media network.
Homan is an experienced border officer who served as acting chief of the vital Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in 2017 and 2018. The agency is responsible for finding, arresting, and deporting illegal migrants. Homan strongly supported Trump during the 2024 election.
However, the statement did not say Homan would be nominated to run the Department of Homeland Security or the ICE agency. If nominated and confirmed by the Senate for either job, he would have the funding, personnel, and legal authority to deport many illegal migrants.
Instead, the statement suggests he will serve as a “Border Czar,” and will play an advocacy and coordinating role within the White House staff:
[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. 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.
If Homan is working within the White House he will have some political authority — not legal authority — to push Trump’s Secretary of DHS and its ICE agency to enforce the nation’s popular immigration laws. He would not need confirmation by the Senate.
Let’s see if he’s allowed to act as tough as he talks.
You want to come to the U.S.? Okay, but use the door, not the window.