US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Sunday the return of hard-liner Tom Homan to head the agency responsible for border and immigration control (ICE).
The 78-year-old president-elect has pledged to launch, on his first day in office, the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in U.S. history.
“I am pleased to announce that former ICE Director and Border Control stalwart Tom Homan will be joining the Trump Administration where he will be responsible for our nation’s borders (‘The Border Czar’) “wrote the Republican billionaire on his Truth Social network.
“I have known Tom for a long time, and there is no one better than him to monitor and control our borders”continued Mr. Trump.
Tom Homan will be responsible for “all expulsions of illegal aliens to their country of origin”added Trump.
During his campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly lashed out against illegal migrants who, according to him, “poison the blood” of his country, and promised to re-establish a policy of family separation at the border.
Homan appeared at the Republican National Convention in July, telling his supporters: “I have a message for the millions of illegal immigrants Joe Biden has allowed into our country: You better start packing your bags now”.
Thomas Homan had already led ICE during Donald Trump’s previous term (2017-2021). Under this first Trump presidency, nearly 4,000 migrant children were separated from their parents and placed in detention.
Donald Trump has made another appointment to his future cabinet, appointing his campaign manager Susie Wiles – whom he calls “ice baby” because of his supposedly imperturbable temperament – as White House chief of staff. Trump won’t be inaugurated until January.
He also announced that he had named Republican MP Elise Stefanik as United States ambassador to the United Nations, in statements to the American media late Sunday.
“I am honored to nominate President Elise Stefanik to serve in my administration as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tenacious and intelligent fighter for America.”Mr. Trump said in a statement to the New York Post.
“Invasions”
As the U.S. government has struggled for years to manage its southern border with Mexico, Trump has exacerbated concerns by asserting that a “invasion” of migrants was underway who he said would rape and murder Americans.
In his election speeches, he greatly exaggerated local tensions and misled his audience about immigration statistics and policy.
The number of violent crimes, which increased during Trump’s first term, has declined each year under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Migrants commit proportionately fewer crimes than the local population, although foreign suspects have been named in a few high-profile cases of violent attacks on women and children, infuriating Republicans.
The number of U.S. border patrols encountering migrants arriving illegally from Mexico is now about the same as in 2020, the final year of Trump’s presidency, after peaking at a record number of 250,000 for the month of December 2023.
Trump has pledged to combat migrant gangs using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the federal government to round up and deport aliens from enemy countries, as part of a campaign to mass expulsion that he called “Operation Aurora”.
It was as part of this operation that a video went viral purportedly showing armed Latinos rampaging through a building with false narratives about a city being terrorized by Latino migrants.
Donald Trump also promoted the fictional story that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating residents’ pets.
united states usa donald trump immigration Tom Homan american election 2024
