Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan is “honored” to be tapped as the “border czar” for the incoming second Trump administration, and he’s prepared to do what it takes to get the crisis under control.
“I’ve been on this network for years complaining about what this administration did to this border. I’ve been yelling and screaming about it and what they need to do to fix it. So when the president asked me, ‘Would you come back and fix it?’ Of course. I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t. I’m honored the president asked me to come back and help solve this national security crisis, so I’m looking forward to it,” he told “Fox & Friends” Monday in his first interview since being tapped for the role.
“I think the calling is clear,” he continued, “I’ve got to go back and help because every morning… I’m pissed off with what this [Biden] administration did to the most secure border in my lifetime, so I’m going to go back and do what I can to fix it.”
Trump announced his decision to tap Homan for the position in his incoming administration in a post on Truth Social on Sunday, filling the role currently occupied by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Tom Homan, former Trump Administration Head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was tapped as Trump’s border czar for his upcoming administration. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Illegal border crossings surged under the Biden administration, with nearly 3 million in fiscal year 2024, according to Homeland Security’s website. There have been more than 10.8 million illegal encounters since FY 2021.
Trump has made illegal immigration an issue integral to his campaign messaging since 2016. This election cycle, as illegal migrants flooded communities across the U.S. and sidelined major cities like New York City, he offered an alternative vision to that of the Biden-Harris administration, focusing on calls for mass deportation and border wall construction as well as reinstating since-rescinded executive orders from his previous term.
Homan said this tough border stance would mean prioritizing illegal immigrants who pose public safety or national security threats. He specifically mentioned drug cartels and sex trafficking.
U.S. President-elect, then presidential candidate, Donald Trump speaks at the U.S.-Mexico border on August 22, 2024 south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. Trump will hold a rally in Glendale, Arizona tomorrow. (Rebecca Noble)
“I know exactly what I’m doing, and this is the second time I’ve come out of retirement for this president, because it matters. I was a Border Patrol agent, I wore that uniform, and I’m proud that I wore that uniform. I was an ICE agent. I was the first ICE director that came up through the ranks, so the 20,000 men and women that worked for me, I didn’t ask them to do anything I wouldn’t do myself, because I was one of them,” he said.
Since Friday, Homan has been inundated with calls, texts and emails amid rumors he was returning. Many came from ICE agents that he said are excited about his return.
“But more importantly, thousands of retired agents, retired military [have called] that want to come in and volunteer to help this president secure the border and do this deportation operation,” Homan added.
Death threats have also surfaced, however, but he remains determined not to give in to the pressure.
“That’s something we’re going to deal with. They’re not going to shut me up. They’re not going to make me go away. This is the biggest national security vulnerability this nation has seen since 9/11. We have to fix it.”
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Fox News’ Scott McDonald contributed to this report.
