Border Czar Promises ‘Mass Deportations Are Coming’ to Fulfill Trump’s Promises

Top Trump administration officials this week reinforced their plans to execute mass deportations as a key strategy on immigration.

Speaking at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Ariz., White House border czar Tom Homan praised the work of Border Patrol agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers over the last year and said the high number of arrests and deportations was expected to continue.

Immigration officers arrested more than half a million undocumented immigrants last year, according to officials speaking at the Expo, and are now making about 1,200 arrests a day; President Trump had campaigned on a promise of a million deportations a year.

“If you think last year’s historic number is good, wait till next year and we have 10,000 more agents on the border. You ain’t seen s*** yet,” Homan said in his opening remarks to kick off the Expo. “This year will be a good year. Mass deportations are coming.”

The remarks contrast with Homan’s softer messaging on immigration enforcement after two U.S. citizens were killed by Homeland Security officers during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis in January. Lawmakers from both parties called for the end of the crackdown in Minnesota — a drawdown that Homan led — and a change of leadership at the Department of Homeland Security.

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Homan’s comments this week suggest the administration’s focus on Trump’s campaign promises continues unabated.

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He said deportations and arrests would prioritize anyone with a criminal background or seen as a security threat.

But “it doesn’t mean because you prioritize criminals, everybody else is off the table,” he said in Phoenix. “I’ve said no one’s off the table. Why is that? I don’t care how long you’ve been here. If you’re here illegally into this country, you cheated.”

While Mullin, the new DHS secretary, wasn’t at the event, Homan said the secretary shares his views.

Mullin recently said the agency is not losing focus but is being “more quiet” about its approach.

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was the first attorney general to ever speak at the Expo. He had a message for attendees: federal law enforcement agencies are united in their mission of arresting and deporting people without legal status.

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On denaturalizations, he said the agency is on track this month to surpass the total number of denaturalization cases from all four years of the Biden administration, which was 64.

Denaturalizations are rare and are meant to strip citizenship from those who may have lied about their criminal convictions or membership in illegal groups on their citizenship applications. The government has to prove its accusations in court.

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Homan said he predicts more immigration enforcement in areas, like the state and city of New York, that restrict cooperation with federal law enforcement officials on immigration.

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Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, who is retiring by the end of the month, said the agency was also hiring quickly, with 2,500 new attorneys to prosecute cases in immigration court, 11,000 deportation officers and 3,500 special agents.

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