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tom homan
Impact of Trump Immigration Crackdown Is Swift as Advocates Vow to Fight Back
The president signaled an end to birthright citizenship and a prompt start to deportation raids as migrants at the southern border were barred from entering the U.S.
Jan 20, 2025
President Donald Trump had barely finished his inauguration speech Monday when his anti-immigration agenda's human impact became clear, with families at the U.S.-Mexico border learning their existing appointments with Customs and Border Protection had been cancelled after waiting months to speak with officials about applying for asylum.
Arelis R. Hernández of The Washington Post was among the journalists who shared the stories of devastated migrants on Monday, posting a video of one person who had been determined to enter the U.S. through a port of entry.
"Existing appointments are no longer valid," read a message on the CBP One app that was launched by the Biden administration, following Trump's inauguration speech in which he detailed several anti-immigration executive orders that he planned to sign immediately.
The app was rendered inoperable after Trump pledged to declare a "national emergency at the southern border" and said that "all illegal entry will immediately be halted," with administration officials beginning "the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came"—a reference to Trump's mass deportation plan that was a signature theme of his election campaign.
Ahead of Trump's inauguration, Pope Francis was among the faith leaders who condemned his anti-immigration agenda, saying he was praying that under the second Trump administration, Americans "will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination, or exclusion."
If Trump moves forward with his mass deportation plan, said the pope, "this will be a disgrace."
"That's not how things are resolved," said Pope Francis.
Trump's "border czar," Thomas Homan, who previously served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), attempted to backtrack on Saturday regarding details of an administration plan to launch immigration raids across Chicago just after Inauguration Day.
"ICE will start arresting public safety threats and national security threats on day one," Homan told the Post. "This is nationwide thing. We're not sweeping neighborhoods. We have a targeted enforcement plan."
But other incoming Trump officials, including Homan, have previously said that any of the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are in the United States could be targeted as the administration begins enforcement immediately.
Homan said in December that—contrary to the hope expressed by Pope Francis ahead of the inaugural speech—the administration is planning to "set up a phone line for members of the public to alert immigration authorities to undocumented people in their communities."
Chris Thomas, an attorney with the law firm Holland & Hart, who has represented people and businesses swept up in immigration raids, toldForbes that the Trump administration is likely to target workplaces without providing any notice to business owners as a way of generating publicity.
"When the government encourages [informing authorities about undocumented people], we've seen people turning in ex-boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, business competitors, and neighbors they don't like," Thomas told Forbes.
Trump said Monday that he plans to promptly end birthright citizenship via executive order, reinterpreting the 14th Amendment and excluding from its protections U.S.-born babies whose parents were born outside the country. Legal scholars have signaled such a move would be challenged in court.
Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of the immigrant rights group America's Voice, noted that Trump's "radical plan for mass deportations is not what the American people want, especially when they learn the details and see it unfold," citing polls from CNN and Fox News.
"Scores of business leaders in key industries are fearful that mass deportation will gut entire sectors of our economy and public schools are taking the dramatic step of preparing their classrooms and parking lots for raids by federal agents," said Cárdenas. "Much like we saw during his family separation policy, we expect backlash from Americans upon witnessing the harms of Trump's second-term immigration agenda, including on the American economy and our core values."
Ronnate Asirwatham, director of government relations for NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, said Trump's speech indicated that "in the coming days we will see an onslaught of executive orders, proclamations, and legislation that will attempt to criminalize our neighbors, family members, and friends."
"We will not let our community be divided in this way," said Asirwatham. "From doctors to grocery store workers, if our neighbors are ripped from our communities, we will be grieving their loss, absence, gifts, and contributions to our community and country. We refuse to stay silent as the state unnecessarily targets people, all the while pursuing policies that benefit only the ultrawealthy."
Joan F. Neal, interm executive director of NETWORK, said the group will "shed light on these heinous policies and hold our government accountable, with a vision of an inclusive, pluralistic democracy that welcomes those fleeing persecution, keeps families together, and supports an economy for all so that we can build a more just future."
"We will not remain silent," said Neal, "while our neighbors are harmed by cruel and vicious treatment."
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'To Instill Widespread Fear Is the Point': Trump Plots Chicago Immigration Raids
"It's a performance with serious costs for immigrant communities," said one critic. "And it's a performance to help sell their greater authoritarian agenda."
Jan 18, 2025
Citing four unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journalreported late Friday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration intends to start delivering on his long-promised mass deportations with "a large-scale immigration raid" in Chicago, Illinois that "is expected to begin on Tuesday morning, a day after Trump is inaugurated, and will last all week."
"The Trump team intends to target immigrants in the country illegally with criminal backgrounds—many of whose offenses, like driving violations, made them too minor for the Biden administration to pursue," according to the newspaper. "But, the people cautioned, if anyone else in the country illegally is present during an arrest, they will be taken, too."
After considering which "sanctuary cities" to target, "they settled on Chicago both because of the large number of immigrants who could be possible targets and because of the Trump team's high-profile feud with the city's Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson," the Journal detailed. "Large immigrant centers, such as New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Miami, are also in the incoming administration's sights, and more targeted raids could come."
The Trump transition team, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and representatives for Johnson and Gov. JB Pritzker did not respond to the paper's request for comment, but the Democratic governor on Saturday circulated "know your rights" resources from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights on his social media accounts and pledged to "protect those rights and ensure our state laws are followed."
Every family and child deserves to feel safe and secure in the place they call home. Every resident of Illinois should know their rights. I intend to protect those rights and ensure our state laws are followed.
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— Governor JB Pritzker ( @govpritzker.illinois.gov) January 18, 2025 at 12:36 PM
As that resource sheet notes, people questioned by ICE officers have the right to remain silent, and the federal agency's officers must have a warrant signed by a judge to enter a private residence without consent.
The Chicago Sun-Timesreported that "Beatriz Ponce de Leon, deputy mayor for immigrant, migrant, and refugee rights, warned City Council members of the impending street sweeps during a series of virtual briefings Friday" and advocates are "organizing 'know your rights' workshops and distributing cards in Latino neighborhoods with bilingual information on residents' legal rights."
Under the Welcoming City Ordinance, the Chicago Police Department does not document immigration status or share information with federal immigration authorities. WGN9pointed out that "Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Transit Authority, the Chicago Park District, and Community Colleges of Chicago have all been directed not to allow ICE access into any of its buildings."
According toThe New York Times, which spoke with two unnamed sources and obtained related correspondence, "hundreds of agents were asked to volunteer" for ICE's "Operation Safeguard," and the agency plans to send roughly 150 agents to Chicago.
Tom Homan, Trump's incoming "border czar" and former acting director of ICE, previewed the administration's targeting of the Illinois city while attending a Northwest Side GOP holiday party last month, telling other attendees that "Chicago's in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks," and if Johnson "doesn't want to help, get the hell out of the way."
The reports about the massive raids in Chicago confirmes much about the mass deportation regime. 1 Homan is in charge 2 raids are weapon to be selectively wheeled at political opponents - yes it’s about targeting the undoc but also the Dem mayor 3 the staged performance is their key objective
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— Zachary A Mueller ( @zacharyamueller.bsky.social) January 18, 2025 at 10:16 AM
In a social media thread about the reported plans for Chicago, Zachary Mueller, senior research director at the advocacy group America's Voice, said that Trump's administration "will parade out some number of immigrants who have committed serious crimes, to sell the lie that this is about protecting the American people. It's not."
"Don't fall for their trap," Mueller continued. "There will be arrests in other cities to say that this is not weaponized raids as [a] political attack on political opponents. But the [performance] to instill widespread fear is the point. Fear to immigrant communities. Fear to any elected official not in a major city of the cost of speaking out."
"Homan wants a confrontation. They want to perform the narrative for their audience they are taking it to the 'enemy within," Mueller added. "It's a performance with serious costs for immigrant communities. And it's a performance to help sell their greater authoritarian agenda."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, responded similarly, saying Friday: "The actual operation described in the piece (100-200 agents) seems not that unusual for ICE (Google Operation Cross-Check). Expect a PR blitz, though."
"Not to diminish... the impact, but from [the Journal's] reporting it seems that the scale of this is entirely precedented. ICE has done similar operations in the past. This seems mostly about generating media," Reichlin-Melnick explained.
"As many people have said, it is going to take time for the Trump administration to ramp up immigration enforcement," he added. "In the meantime, however, they are going to basically slap a 'mass deportation' logo on the side of every regular ICE operation."
In addition to sounding the alarm over how Trump's mass deportations are expected to impact the estimated 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States and their families, migrant rights advocates and experts have warned that the plan, if fully implemented, "would deliver a catastrophic blow to the U.S. economy."
Although Trump won't be president again until his Monday inauguration, Republicans on Capitol Hill are already pushing forward the GOP's anti-migrant agenda, with help from some Democrats in Congress. On Friday, 10 Democratic senators voted with Republicans to advance the Laken Riley Act, setting it up for a final vote next week.
Those 10 Democrats are Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), and Mark Warner (Va.). Gallego and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who did not vote on Friday, also co-sponsored the bill.
"The process displayed by Democrats during the Laken Riley Act legislative debate is an alarming first sign of acquiescence to Donald Trump and Stephen Miller," said America's Voice executive director Vanessa Cárdenas, referring to the family separation architect set to serve as the president-elect's homeland security adviser and deputy chief of staff for policy.
"Greenlighting a massive increase in unnecessary detention and empowering the radical anti-immigrant state attorneys general is deeply harmful and undermines the solutions we need," she stressed. "Despite Donald Trump's victory and the prominence of his vicious anti-immigrant pledges, a strong majority of the American public prefers a balanced approach to immigration, involving both border security and legalization for undocumented immigrants, instead of mass deportation."
According to Cárdenas' group, a coalition of nearly two dozen organizations including Families for Freedom, United We Dream, and multiple state arms of Make the Road are launching a nationwide week of action scheduled to begin Monday in California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
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'Why Would He Stop Now?' Trump Border Czar's Firm Peddles Federal Contracts
"When not presumably working on President-elect Trump's kids-in-cages policy 2.0, does Mr. Homan intend to exploit his new title to steer more lucrative federal contracts to his homeland security clients for his own personal gain?"
Dec 30, 2024
A watchdog group that has sounded the alarm about various picks for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's next administration released a Monday report focused on the consulting and nonprofit work of incoming immigration official Tom Homan.
Homan, who was acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Trump's first term, is set to serve as "border czar," a post that does not require Senate confirmation.
The new analysis by Accountable.US details how Homan's role as border czar could present serious conflicts of interest with his private consulting firm.
"Homan founded Homeland Strategic Consulting LLC," the report explains, "a private consulting firm which touts Trump's endorsement, claims to have secured 'tens of millions of dollars of federal contracts' for clients, and has taken over $83,000 from Jim Lamon, a failed U.S. Senate candidate who was indicted alongside Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman in Arizona's fake electors case."
"Homan will soon join a growing club of top Trump administration aides with glaring conflicts of interest that create perfect conditions for corruption and insider special treatment at the expense of everyone else."
The watchdog found that the firm's website said last month: "Homeland Strategic Consulting has been extremely successful in assisting small and large companies in business development with both federal and state governments. We provide around-the-clock guidance and subject-matter expertise to help your company discover opportunities, pursue acquisitions, win those opportunities, and assist in the execution of those contracts."
When Commons Dreams tried to access the firm's website on Monday afternoon, it featured a gray page with a message that it "is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance to bring you a faster, more secure, and improved browsing experience."
The report notes that "Homan is also a strategic adviser for the Government Technology & Services Coalition (GTSC), a homeland security industry group of 'midsized company CEOs,'" and on the editorial board of its publication, Homeland Security Today.
Accountable.US further highlighted that "Homan is president and CEO of Border911, a far-right 501(c)(3) nonprofit that claims to fight a 'historic illegal alien crisis' and that the U.S. is under 'attack from the inside.'"
"In possible violation of its tax-exempt status, Border911 was promoting Homan's appearances at Republican political events as of December 2024," the document details. "This includes a state party convention that sold tickets to a VIP reception featuring Homan and a Women's International Republican Club gala in New York City."
"Additionally, Border911 held a sold-out fundraiser in April 2024 at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, with Trump confirmed to appear at the event and a $100,000 'presidential' sponsorship tier," the report adds.
The watchdog also pointed out Homan's contributions to Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation-led initiative that includes a sweeping right-wing policy playbook for the next Republican president. Although Trump tried to distance himself from the project during the campaign, he is now expected to pursue many of its proposals.
Donald Trump’s “border czar” Thomas Homan helped rip 5,500+ kids from their parents. Now he’s set to rake in cash for his firm off federal contracts—no Senate confirmation needed. Corruption and cruelty are back in style with Trump 2.0. accountable.us/more-conflic...
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— Accountable.US (@accountable-us.bsky.social) December 30, 2024 at 1:09 PM
Homan has long faced intense criticism for his role in the "zero tolerance" policy of the first Trump administration, which forcibly separated thousands of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Human rights groups revealed earlier this month that an estimated 1,360 children have yet to be reunited with their families.
This cycle, Trump campaigned on promises of mass deportations and ending birthright citizenship, despite the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Announcing the border czar role last month, the president-elect said that "there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders" and "Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin."
Last week, Homan previewed plans to detain migrant families with children in tents and suggested that Trump should revive mass worksite immigration raids and the "Remain in Mexico" policy that stopped asylum-seekers from entering the United States.
"When not presumably working on President-elect Trump's kids-in-cages policy 2.0, does Mr. Homan intend to exploit his new title to steer more lucrative federal contracts to his homeland security clients for his own personal gain?" Accountable.US executive director Tony Carrk asked in a Monday statement.
"Both Homan's business and nonprofit group have thoroughly milked his connections to the Trump brand before, why would he stop now?" Carrk continued. "Homan will soon join a growing club of top Trump administration aides with glaring conflicts of interest that create perfect conditions for corruption and insider special treatment at the expense of everyone else."
Rolling Stone first reported on the watchdog's Monday publication. Homan told the magazine that "as the incoming border czar I have recused myself from any involvement, discussion, input, or decision of any future government contracts that may be awarded by the government. Therefore, there is no conflict of interest."
Although Homan did not respond to Rolling Stone's question about whether he would name his clients, he said, "I will be filing all appropriate documents as required by ethics rules including financial disclosures."
Homan isn't the only immigration hard-liner planning to join the next Trump administration. The others include family separation architect Stephen Miller, the incoming homeland security adviser and deputy chief of staff for policy; dog-killing Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, the nominee for homeland security secretary; and Caleb Vitello, the next acting ICE director.
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