Why Tom Homan’s role as Trump’s new ‘border czar’ matters

Chances are, most Americans have never heard the name Tom Homan. Given the role he will soon fill in Donald Trump’s second administration, he will likely become much better known soon. NBC News reports this:

President-elect Donald Trump announced late Sunday that Tom Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who supported his controversial “zero tolerance” policy, will become his administration’s “border czar.”

“I am pleased to announce that former ICE Director, and avid border patrol officer, 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 wrote in a message posted on his social media platform.

“I have known Tom for a long time, and there is no one better at guarding and controlling our borders,” the message continued. “Similarly, Tom Homan will be responsible for all deportations of illegal aliens back to their countries of origin. Congratulations to Tom. I have no doubt he will do a fantastic and long-awaited job.”

The president-elect’s confidence is misplaced.

If Rachel explained on the show a few weeks ago, Homan was largely considered an architect of Trump’s policy of ripping children away from their parents at the border. He also happens to be one of the Republicans who helped write the right-wing Project 2025 blueprint.

At a radical rally in Pennsylvania last month, Homan did the same publicly promised“I will lead the largest deportation operation this country has ever seen.”

Five weeks later, Trump asked him to serve as the country’s “border czar.”

Ahead of Election Day, the Republican candidate boasted about his vision for mass deportations – apparently as an example militarized deportations And mass detention camps — though some of his allies in Congress have suggested in the aftermath of the election that actual policy will be less extreme. On CNN’s “State of the Union,” for example, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Jim Jordan the new government planned to focus on “migrants here who have committed crimes.”

On NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso made a similar commentto host Kristen Welker, regarding deportations: “We’re talking about people who come from criminal cartels, drug dealers, people on the terrorist watch list.”

However, there are a number of reasons to be skeptical of these attempts to downplay the scope of the coming policy. First of all, it contradicts that Trump’s first term agenda.

For someone else, Homan has already made it clear that his focus is wouldn’t be limited to dangerous criminals. In an interview For example, on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which aired a few weeks ago, the new “border czar” was asked if there was a way to carry out mass deportations without separating families.

“Of course it is,” he replied. “Families can be deported together.”

In same interviewHoman suggested that children who are U.S. citizens should also expect to have to pack up and move to an unknown country if their parents are undocumented.

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when Republicans shied away from such positions, fearing a backlash from Latino voters. But in 2024, Trump ran on a reactionary anti-immigrant platform and dramatic gains among Latino voters, at least.

Ron Brownstein does quite a bit written on this for The Atlantic, explaining that Trump has reason to believe he can “achieve the best of both worlds politically”: the Republican can energize xenophobic, far-right voters with his anti-immigrant agenda, while adding votes from immigrant communities who either I don’t know or it doesn’t interest me his hate-filled vision.

It is against this background that Homan receives a radical assignment from the newly elected president. Watch this space.