President-elect Donald Trump is actively assembling his team for a second term, with his latest appointments are already drawing attention. Among the most discussed is his choice of Thomas Homan as Border Czar—a figure known for executing the controversial 'zero tolerance' immigration policy, which led to the separation of over 5,000 immigrant children from their families during Trump's first term.
With the news, a heated exchange between Democratic Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Homan during a House Oversight Committee hearing back in 2019 has resurfaced. In the video, Ocasio-Cortez questioned the then-ICE director about his involvement in the controversial "family separation policy."
Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that Homan's name was on a memo recommending several options for handling immigration enforcement, including one that led to family separation. "Your name is on this... So you are the author of the family separation policy?" she asked.
JUST IN: Donald Trump announces former ICE director Tom Homan will be his new “Border Czar.”
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 11, 2024
Here is a previous spat Homan had with AOC.
“I am pleased to announce that the Former
ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration,… pic.twitter.com/acZfsy2WoE
Homan clarified that he recommended a "zero tolerance" policy, which included prosecuting adults who entered the country illegally, leading to family separations in practice. Homan defended his stance claiming the policy would help "secure the border and save lives." He also argued that separating immigrant parents from their children was comparable to separating U.S. parents from their children when they are arrested for committing a crime.
"If I get arrested for DUI and I have a young child in a car I will be separated. I was a police officer in New York, and I arrested a father for domestic violence, I separated that father from the family," he explained.
When AOC noted that legal asylum seekers shouldn't face criminal charges because "seeking asylum is legal," Homan defended his stance by distinguishing between illegal border entry and lawful asylum claims, stating, "If you want to seek asylum, go through a port of entry and do it the legal way."
The exchange highlighted conflicting perspectives on policy accountability and the ethical implications of "zero tolerance" enforcement, which is likely to make a comeback as Homan will soon be in charge of executing Trump's promised "largest deportation in history."
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, journalist Cecilia Vega asked Homan, "Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?" to which he responded, "Of course there is. Families can be deported together." The journalist also questioned Homan about the price tag of deporting one million immigrants per year—which experts estimate, could cost around $88 billion. The border czar responded with a question, "What price do you put on our national security?"
60 Minutes: Is spending billions on deportation worth it?
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 7, 2024
Former ICE director and Trump ally Tom Homan: What price do you put on our national security?
60 Minutes: Is there a way to carry out mass deportations without separating families?
Homan: Of course there is. Families… pic.twitter.com/olZz2x7emV
Nevertheless, experts, including a former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have questioned the viability of Trump's mass deportation plan, suggesting he will need significantly more ICE agents, increased appropriations from Congress, and a strategy to address immigration court backlogs, as migrants are entitled to due process before deportation.
Homan gained notoriety during the Biden Administration for contributing to Project 2025, a conservative political handbook which many believe to be the blueprint of Trump's second term. The President-elect however distanced himself from the document over the course of his campaign, claiming he did not know much about it or the people behind it.
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