Incoming border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that even if foreign home countries refused to take back their illegal migrants, it still wouldn’t slow President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation plans.
Throughout his campaign, Trump vowed to shut down the southern border as the U.S. saw record-high encounters under the Biden-Harris administration, stating his second administration would conduct one of the largest deportation operations in U.S. history. On “Face the Nation,” CBS host Margaret Brennan asked the incoming border czar how he plans to carry out the process if some countries, like Venezuela, continue to deny repatriation requests.
“Well, first of all, we have President Trump coming in the Oval Office and he’s proven during his first administration. His leadership on illegal immigration was the game-changer, because for instance, El Salvador wouldn’t take back MS-13 members when I was the ICE director,” Homan said. “It took President Trump 48 hours to get El Salvador to take back their criminal aliens into their prisons. Mexico didn’t want to do the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, but President Trump was able to get ‘Remain in Mexico’ established in Mexico. He was able to get Mexico [to] put military in the southern and northern border. President Trump’s a strong president.”
“This administration has not forced these countries to take them back and we have what we call a third safe country. We already have countries talking about taking back people from other countries. For instance Venezuela doesn’t take their people back. There’s other ways we can do it. There’s other countries [who’d] be willing to accept them,” Homan added.
With an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. as of 2022, President Joe Biden has attempted to reduce the number by sending Venezuelans back to their home country. However, Biden’s plans were halted by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who rejected deportation flights in February 2024.
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Homan went on to state that while incoming officials are hoping Trump will be able to negotiate with Maduro, illegal immigrants will be deported to another country if their home countries will not accept them.
“We’re hoping that President Trump will work with Venezuela like he did with Mexico and El Salvador and get these countries to take them back. If they don’t, they’re still gonna be deported, they’re just gonna be deported to a different country,” Homan continued.
“We’re not gonna be held up on removing public safety threats in this country. We have to put the safety of the American people first,” Homan said. “We’ve had too many young women murdered and raped and burned alive by members of Venezuelan gangs. They need to be a priority under this administration. It’s [going to] be a priority starting day one and they will be deported.”
In addition to foreign home countries, Democrats in sanctuary cities have also attempted to push back against Trump and Homan’s plans. Officials like Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Democratic Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston have vowed not to aid Homan or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in removing illegal immigrants from their cities.
Homan has since warned the mayors and others, like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), that their efforts will not only fail to prevent deportations but could also result in “consequences” for those “who violate the law and try to prevent us from doing our job.”
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