‘Isn’t Really A Policy Issue’: Tom Homan Tells CNN Why Democrats Really Want To Keep DHS Shut Down

White House border czar Tom Homan told CNN on Sunday he thinks Democrats’ apparent decision to prolong the partial government shutdown is not due to differences in immigration policy but instead “execution.”

Homan appeared on “State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash” on the 37th day of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) partial shutdown. The interview also aired two days after a poorly attended Senate chamber failed to fully reopen the department, with every voting Democrat except Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman opting to continue the standoff. Host Dana Bash asked the border czar what immigration enforcement policy changes President Donald Trump’s administration is offering Democrats “to end this impasse,” prompting Homan to reply he thinks the real disagreement is not about policy.

“I truly believe this isn’t really a policy issue. We have the same policies in place we had during [former President Barack] Obama and [former President Joe] Biden and [former President Bill] Clinton and [former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush],” Homan told Bash.

Prior to joining the first Trump administration, the border czar held a leadership role in the Obama administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“So, the policy really hasn’t changed. It’s the execution of those policies that we’re talking about,” Homan continued.

“It’s really about policy execution more than policy,” he added.

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The Obama’s administration previously removed more noncitizens from the U.S. than any other presidential administration, according to DHS data. This fact notably prompted many pro-immigration activists on the left to nickname the Democratic president the “Deporter in Chief” during his White House tenure.

Trump deported about 675,000 illegal immigrants during the first year of his second term, according to a Jan. 20, 2026, DHS press release. During the his entire first term, however, he removed about 1.2 million non-citizens. Even when these two totals are combined, they fall well short of the nearly 3 million deportations of the two-term Obama administration, multiple analyses of DHS data indicate.

Furthermore, when removals and returns are combined, the president who expelled the most people out of the U.S. is another Democrat, Bill Clinton, according to DHS data analyzed by El Paso Matters.

Homan added the Trump administration is “having good conversations” with Democrats “but more conversations need to be had, because we certainly can’t surrender ICE’s authorities and their congressionally mandated job.”

During the Sunday interview, Bash also pressed Homan on whether the White House is “open to changing” immigration enforcement policy to acquiesce to some Democratic demands, such as requiring ICE agents to remove their masks.

“As you see on the letter that was out the other night, we’re talking about identification, badge number, name, either/or because no Border Patrol has the name on their uniform. ICE does have a name on uniforms,” the border czar answered. “We’re talking about clear identification. We’re talking about access to detention and things like that. So, a lot of these things — as I explained to the senators — a lot of these things are already in play. And identification has been ever since Minneapolis.”

“And I’m trying to explain the situation on the ground isn’t the same as it was in Minneapolis. We’re doing targeted enforcement operations, and the detention standards are the same. They were in the last administration, but there was a problem with access to detention standards,” Homan continued. “That problem doesn’t exist anymore. So, a lot of the changes after Minneapolis has already been implemented, and that’s what I’m there to explain to them.”