Trump to appoint Tom Homan, former ICE director, as next ‘border czar’

WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump said he will appoint Tom Homan, his former acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, as "border czar" in his incoming administration.

"I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation’s Borders," Trump wrote late Sunday on his Truth Social platform.

FILE - Thomas Homan, then-Deputy Director of Immigration and Immigration enforcement, addresses the media during a press conference at Border Field State Park on May 7, 2018, in San Ysidro, California. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

Trump made immigration a central issue in his campaign, pledging to launch "the largest deportation program in American history" regarding undocumented immigrants, and particularly those with criminal records.

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Homan was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to overseeing the southern and northern borders and "maritime, and aviation security," Trump said Homan "will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin," a central part of his agenda.

He says he had "no doubt" Homan "will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job."

Such a role does not require Senate confirmation.

Homan: It will be a ‘well-targeted, planned operation’ 

During an interview on FOX News Channel’s "Sunday Morning Futures," Homan said the military would not be rounding up and arresting immigrants in the country illegally and that ICE would move to implement Trump's plans in a "humane manner."

"It’s going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They’re good at it," Homan added. "When we go out there, we’re going to know who we’re looking for. We most likely know where they’re going to be, and it’s going to be done in a humane manner."

Earlier this year at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, Homan expressed frustration at the news coverage of a mass deportation operation.

"Wait until 2025," he said, adding that, while he thinks the government needed to prioritize national security threats, "no one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder."

Homan also said: "you’ve got my word. Trump comes back in January, I’ll be in his heels coming back, and I will run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen."

For his part, Trump during his campaign referenced illegal migrants as people fleeing countries that didn’t want them. He often said at his rallies that illegal immigrants flooded the U.S. with drugs and gangs, and that they became a hub for smuggling and human trafficking, saying they are "poisoning the blood of our country."

"They’re rough people, in many cases from jails, prisons, from mental institutions, insane asylums," Trump said. "You know, insane asylums, that’s ‘Silence of the Lambs’ stuff."