US President-elect Donald Trump has named Tom Homan, the former chief of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as the ‘Border Czar’ of his incoming administration.
In the run-up to the election, Trump said that he would run the largest deportation programme in the history of the United States and would deport all illegal immigrants. Estimates suggest there may be around 14-15 illegal immigrants in the United States.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that Homan will be in charge of all US land, maritime, and aerial borders, and will oversee the deportation of “all illegal aliens back to their country of origin”.
“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. Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic and long-awaited for job,” said Trump.
Illegal immigration became a major rallying call for the Trump’s victorious campaign against Democratic rival Kamala Harris. While Trump and his supporters often resorted to outright disinformation and racist tropes to build their anti-immigration election platform, the campaign was underpinned by widespread and often bipartisan concerns in the United States about the continued influx of illegal immigrants through the border with Mexico and crimes associated with them.
It is not clear how the Trump administration would go about deporting illegal immigrants in the United States.
As Harris was often touted as the Border Czar during the Biden administration’s early years, the Trump campaign held her directly responsible for the crisis.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsA Congressional report said that as many as 10 million people could have entered the United States illegally in the past four years.