(DCNF)—President-elect Donald Trump’s border czar unequivocally declared that every illegal migrant residing in the United States is up for grabs when he begins his wide-scale deportation operation.
Tom Homan — a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the man tapped to lead the Trump administration’s ambitious immigration enforcement initiative — told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he plans to focus on the “worst first,” but also cautioned that every single individual living unlawfully in the country is also fair game. The comments came after some border hardliners had openly speculated whether the Trump team was watering down its agenda before inauguration day.
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“Like the first Trump administration, we’re going to prioritize public safety threats, national security threats and fugitives,” Homan said to the DCNF, adding that gang members and other criminals would be their main focus. “Those that had due process at great taxpayer expense, were given orders of deportation, never left and became a fugitive – them too, they’re a priority.”
“The ones who pose the biggest threat to the country – they come first. The worst first,” Homan continued. “But let’s be clear, if you’re in the country illegally, you’re not off the table.”
Trump, who recently won the presidential election in an electoral landslide, campaigned off a pro-immigration enforcement agenda. The Republican has tapped Homan to lead deportation efforts, South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Caleb Vitello to lead ICE and Rodney Scott to lead Customs and Border Protection, among other key immigration-related appointments.
The president-elect has pledged a slate of hawkish border policies, such as a return of the Remain in Mexico program, construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, the end of birthright citizenship for those born to illegal migrant parents and, perhaps most notably, a vow to conduct the largest deportation operation in the country’s history. While estimates vary, organizations like the Federation for American Immigration Reform calculate that around 17 million illegal migrants are in the U.S., meaning the Trump administration would have its hands full removing just a fraction of this population.
Homan and others within Trump’s circle have repeatedly stated that their deportation operation would run on a “worst first” policy, giving priority to convicted criminals, gangbangers and others that pose a public safety threat to the country. While such a policy ostensibly reflects the basic logistical and financial constraints of mass enforcement efforts, the mantra had sparked some concern by border hawk advocates that the upcoming administration is watering down its lauded goal.
Homan, nonetheless, reiterated that no illegal migrant has reason to think they are completely safe from deportation.
While the Biden administration assumed office in 2021 by placing a moratorium on ICE deportations and overseeing the lowest number of removals in the agency’s history, it has recently boasted about sky-high deportations for the past fiscal year. However, Homan said these numbers are mostly subterfuge as they largely consisted of removals of individuals originally apprehended by Border Patrol — not those arrested by ICE in the interior of the country.
Public debate over illegal immigration spread during the Biden administration not only because of the record-levels of border encounters experienced in recent years, but also due to a number of high-profile crimes allegedly committed by illegal migrants. Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra was found guilty in November of murdering Georgia nursing student Laken Riley; Guatemalan national Sebastian Zapeta is accused of burning a woman alive on a New York City train earlier this month and Tren de Aragua gang members have been blamed for a litany of crimes across the U.S.
The incoming border czar said the removals happening now under the Biden administration will look meager come January, when Trump enters office and he is able to allow deportation officers to operate across the country with far fewer restraints.
“We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them do what they do best,” Homan declared to the DCNF.
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