Trump’s border czar says he’ll need funding and at least 100K beds to carry out deportation plans
By Eric Bradner, CNN
(CNN) — Tom Homan, who Donald Trump has tapped as his incoming administration’s “border czar,” said Wednesday night that plans are underway to deport undocumented immigrants at large scale and that he’ll need funding from Congress to do so.
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, he said he will need a minimum of 100,000 beds to detain undocumented immigrants – more than doubling the 40,000 detention beds ICE is currently funded for – and needs more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to carry out the president-elect’s mass deportation plans.
“It all depends on the funding I get from the Hill,” Homan said on “The Source,” adding that he isn’t yet sure how much additional funding Trump’s administration will seek from the Republican-led House and Senate.
Homan also said he would ask the military for help transporting migrants.
“They’re not going to be out arresting people, but they can be a force multiplier in doing things we need to do that doesn’t require a badge and a gun,” he said.
The president-elect announced last month that Homan, a veteran of immigration law enforcement who served under the Obama administration and as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump’s first administration, would be the “border czar” in his incoming White House.
Trump said on Truth Social that 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.”
Homan said he is “still working on” the Trump administration’s plan to carry out the president-elect’s deportation promises.
“We’ll be ready to launch the day of the inauguration,” he said.
Homan said Trump’s administration will prioritize deporting criminals, gang members and fugitives.
He would not specify how many undocumented immigrants he hopes to see deported by the end of Trump’s next four years in office.
“I don’t have a number. We want to arrest as many people as we can that are in the country illegally,” Homan said. “If you’re here illegally, you’re not off the table. It’s a violation of the law; it’s a crime to enter this country illegally.”
Homan said Trump’s deportation plans include removing undocumented parents whose children are United States citizens.
What happens with those children, he said, is “the decision of the parents.”
“Their child can stay and live with a relative, they can stay with the other parent, or they can take them with them. We don’t deport US citizens. But they put themselves in the position; we didn’t,” Homan said. “The bottom line is, having a child in this country does not make you immune from our laws.”
Homan also said the Trump administration would bring back mass worksite immigration raids – a potentially significant development for some industries that rely on undocumented immigrants’ labor. President Joe Biden ended those raids, instead focusing on employers who exploit those workers.
“Worksite enforcement is coming back in a big way,” he said. Under Trump’s first term, ICE carried out those raids, resulting in hundreds of undocumented workers being swept up.
Democratic-led cities that limit or prohibit cooperation with the federal government over enforcing immigration law, Homan said, will limit ICE’s ability to deport criminals and will force immigration enforcement agents into neighborhoods where he said agents will end up finding and arresting more undocumented immigrants.
Stephen Miller, a longtime Trump aide and driver of hardline immigration policies who is set to be Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said on Fox News this month that Trump will implement “the largest deportation operation in American history.”
Homan told Collins that “there’s no daylight” between him and Miller.
“The target number’s arresting as many people as we can possibly arrest with the resources I have,” Homan said. “This operation isn’t going to stop. We’ve got four years to continue this operation. … If you’re in the country illegally, you’ve got a problem.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
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