Former Director of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Tom Homan has a reputation for being hard-line on immigration.
His tenure at ICE was characterised by harsh stances against illegal immigration, strict policies on family separation and little compassion for those making the journey across the Southern border.
These stances are precisely why Trump has appointed him as the new ‘border tsar’ to serve during his second Presidential term.
Homan is a solid choice in the eyes of the Trump voter base: a former police officer, FOX News commentator and a man who sees illegal immigration as a matter of border security rather than a humanitarian crisis.
Fears around illegal immigration and border security have skyrocketed across the U.S. as the number of refugees entering the country has rapidly increased. As of 2022, the estimated number of unauthorised immigrants living in the U.S. is over 11 million.
The situation has become so worrying that New York City Major Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in 2022, as forces had to relocate thousands of undocumented migrants outside of the city.
Trump has utilised this, alongside anecdotal stories of gang warfare allegedly caused by asylum seekers throughout his presidential campaign. He has retold stories at rallies and speeches, making border security a crucial part of his administrative plans.
This coming January, Trump aims to undertake the single largest mass deportation in American history — with Homan at the helm. So, how does the pair plan to do this?
Homan has stated that deportations would not be “a mass sweep,” despite previous comments from Trump that would imply otherwise.
Homan said: “They’ll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find ’em based on numerous investigative processes.”
Throughout Trump’s last term, Homan played a key role in the development of some immigration policies, the most controversial of which was “zero tolerance”, which saw migrant families separated whilst in ICE custody.
Family separation has been occurring in this context for decades at the border and is highly controversial. However, its supporters say it reflects the common U.S. law of separating parent and child that legal citizens face after arrests.
In fact, this was the very defence used by Homan in a fiery debate with AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) over potential human rights violations during a congressional hearing back in 2018.
Legal asylum is a right protected under international law. Still, with Homan in charge, the broader goal of border security may once again drown out the legitimate pleas of those seeking refuge.
For asylum seekers, Homan’s appointment means fewer opportunities to present their cases and an even tougher environment to navigate a system already stacked against them.
To the children of illegal immigrants, this means an even more difficult situation. Due to birthright laws, children of illegal immigrants born in the U.S. are granted citizenship, but this doesn’t save their family from prosecution by ICE even after decades of living in the States.
Illegal immigration undoubtedly creates security threats, but it also fills jobs.
As of 2017, an estimated 7.6 million undocumented immigrants were also working, making up roughly 5% of the total U.S. workforce.
These workers typically tend to cluster towards construction and agricultural roles such as fruit picking. Both of these areas are essential to the U.S. economy, as they are forms of work often understaffed in most Western economies.
Long hours, low pay and manual labour jobs aren’t sought out by Americans looking for full-time employment, particularly younger generations. Therefore, illegal immigration fills a gap in the workforce that America might need.
If Trump and Homan remove a large part of the agricultural workforce in this way, food prices could rise even higher than they already are.
This creates a difficult balance for presidential administrations to address. As citizens call for tougher measures to prevent crime and border insecurity, the growing demand for a workforce in certain sectors continues.
Ultimately, Homan is the right man for the job — regardless of the moral health of its specifications.
Nonetheless, for those hoping to fulfil their American dream, chances look slim, and for the many asylum seekers not looking to exploit but to survive, Homan’s iron fist policies provide little comfort and no hope.
