Trump to appoint former ICE director Tom Homan as US 'border czar'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Tom Homan, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming "border czar," said on Monday he would prioritize deporting immigrants in the United States illegally who pose threats to public safety and national security as well as employers who hire immigrants without legal status.

Trump, who takes office in January, said in a social media post overnight that the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from his first administration would be in charge of the country's borders in his new administration starting Jan. 20.

The president-elect made cracking down on illegal immigration the central element of his campaign, promising mass deportations. He is expected to mobilize agencies across the U.S. government to help him deport record numbers of immigrants in an operation that Vice President-elect JD Vance has said could remove an estimated 1 million people per year.    

"Public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority...they pose the most danger to this country," Homan told Fox News in an interview, adding: "Worksite operations have to happen."

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform late on Sunday, said Homan will be "in charge of our nation's borders ("The Border Czar"), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security," including the deportation of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Immigrant advocates have warned that Trump's deportation effort would be costly, divisive and inhumane, leading to family separations and devastating communities.

Homan, who was often praised by Trump during the campaign and who campaigned for him, said he would also focus on immigrants ordered to leave after a failed asylum claims.

"At the end of that due process, if the judge says you must go home, then we have to take them home," Homan told Fox.

He said he would like to have cooperation from local law enforcement but if Democrat-led "sanctuary" jurisdictions like New York City resist, he would consider sending in more ICE officers.

"We're going to do the job without you or with you," Homan said.

While ICE executed several large-scale worksite raids during Trump's first term, the number of employers arrested for hiring immigrants in the U.S. illegally fell compared with his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, agency statistics show.

Groups favoring lower levels of immigration have long said increased enforcement against employers could reduce incentives for illegal immigration.

Homan was among several top Trump immigration officials who in 2018 recommended the administration implement a stringent border policy that resulted in thousands of migrant families being separated at the border.

While Trump has refused to rule out revisiting the separations, Homan said last year that a better approach would be to detain families together.

Vance on Monday appeared to confirm reports that Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller would serve as White House deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller was a White House senior adviser during Trump's 2017-2021 presidency and the architect of Trump's aggressive immigration agenda.

Trump has not yet said who he would nominate to serve as head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the U.S. Border Patrol, as he continues to meet with potential candidates for his administration.

Chad Wolf, who served as acting homeland security secretary for part of Trump's first presidency, and U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green could be top contenders. 

(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru and Susan Heavey and Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Kim Coghill, Christian Schmollinger, Angus MacSwan and David Gregorio)