JAN. 2025. Blues Vol 41 No. 1

TRUMPS NEW BORDER

TRUMPS NEW BORDER CZARTOM HOMANBY MICHAEL BARRONIn a recent article by Government ExecutiveNewsletter staff writer Sean MichaelNewhouse, he wrote when Tom Homan retiredin 2018 from serving as acting directorof Immigration and Customs Enforcementafter a 30-plus year career in federallaw enforcement, then-President DonaldTrump remarked, “there’s no such thing asretirement for Tom.”For Trump’s second stint in the WhiteHouse, Homan will serve as border czar,a new position that will oversee border,maritime and aviation security. The roledoes not require confirmation by the Senate.While Trump has generally picked governmentoutsiders and household namepolitical figures for his Cabinet and othersenior appointments, Homan was along-serving federal employee who startedas a Border Patrol agent in the ‘80s andworked his way up to senior leadershippositions.Mathew Silverman, the national presidentof the Federal Law Enforcement OfficersAssociation, said that he’s received manyemails and phone calls from organizationmembers who are excited about Homan’sreturn.“We’ve all had teachers in school thatwe really, really liked and admired, and byhaving somebody that you like and admire,you want to put forth more effort. Youwant to work harder for them. And I feelTom Holman is somebody that these agentsand officers are going to want to impressbecause they like what he’s done in thepast,” Silverman said.Likewise, Paul Perez, the president of theNational Border Patrol Council, said that hedoesn’t “think there’s a better person [to be]border czar than Tom Homan.”“He’s not sitting behind a desk askingthe impossible [or] asking someone to dosomething he hasn’t done himself. So hisexperience is very, very critical,” he said.“When he puts policies in place to dealwith, for example, mass deportations, he’snot somebody coming from the outsidethat doesn’t understand the law and how itshould be applied.”Trump plans to bolster immigration enforcementagencies, utilize the NationalGuard and modify asylum policy to significantlyincrease the number of undocumentedimmigrants who are removed fromthe country.ICE arrests increased under Homan’s leadership,and he received an award for hisdeportation efforts in 2015 from PresidentBarack Obama when he headed the agency’senforcement and removal operations.84 84 The BLUES - - JANUARY ‘25

However Homan’s ICE failed to meet goalsfor recruiting, something that will be integralto the success — or failure — of thesecond Trump administration’s immigrationpolicies.But Perez argued that the environment forrecruiting has improved.“I think with the support that ICE officersand border patrol agents are going to getunder this administration, plus the incentivesthat they’re going to offer, it should bemuch easier to recruit and retain the peo-The The BLUES - JANUARY - ‘25 ‘25 85 85