President-elect Donald Trump‘s designated border czar, Tom Homan, said that the incoming administration plans to unveil a series of “game-changing” executive orders on the first day in office, focusing on reshaping United States immigration policy and enforcement.
“We move immediately. President Trump is going to sign a series of executive orders. I know what they are, but I’m not going to get ahead of them. They’re going to be game-changing,” Homan told Fox News‘ Sean Hannity on January 19.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump team for comment via email on Monday outside of normal office hours.
Why It Matters
During his successful election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly pledged to overhaul the government’s approach and execution of immigration policy. Among his promises, he doubled down on rolling out mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Immigration ranked as the second most important issue for Trump voters in the 2024 election, according to CNN exit polls. About 1 in 30 people living in the United States in 2022 were unauthorized immigrants, according to the Pew Research Center think tank. Many voters and undocumented immigrants will be watching to see if Trump’s promises come to fruition.
President-elect Donald Trump speaks in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 7. Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said the administration plans to unveil a series of “game-changing” executive orders on ‘Day 1.”
Scott Olson/Getty
What To Know
Trump has repeatedly vowed to deploy the National Guard to enact his mass deportation policy, called for potentially deploying the military to work with ICE as part of his crackdown and pledged to enlist federal and state authorities to carry out mass removals.
Trump’s plans to deputize state authorities involve granting local police officers the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. This typically occurs through agreements like the 287(g) program, in which local law enforcement assists with immigration enforcement. As a result, this partnership could lead to more coordinated raids and enforcement actions in cities and towns.
Trump’s mass deportation policies could lead to a return of widespread family separations, with an estimated one in three Latinos at risk of being targeted, according to an immigration and criminal justice advocacy group.
Nearly 20 million people could be directly affected by the incoming president’s policy, either through deportation or separation from immediate family members, FWD.us found.
The incoming administration is expected to declare an emergency on the southern border and designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
Other planned changes to immigration policy include ending the CBP One app and reviving the “Remain in Mexico” program. The CBP One app allows asylum-seekers and migrants to schedule appointments with border officials.
The “Remain in Mexico” policy, officially called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), was introduced in 2019 during the first Trump administration. It required that asylum-seekers remain in Mexico while their claims were being processed. The Biden administration terminated the policy in December 2022.
What People Are Saying
Border czar Tom Homan, on Hannity: “We’re going to start securing the border Day One. We’re going to start a deportation operation Day One. We’re going to start looking forward to 300,000 missing children Day One. All three, Day One.”
“2.2 million gotaways, right? These are 2 million people that paid more to get away. They didn’t pay less to get a free airline ticket to the city of their choice, get a free hotel room, get three squares a day, get free medical care. They paid more not to get vandered a fingerprint and to get away. That should scare the hell out of everybody.”
President-elect Donald Trump, at a victory rally in Washington, D.C., on Sunday: “By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt, and all the illegal border trespassers will in some form or another be on their way back home.”
What Happens Next
Trump is expected to sign over 200 executive orders just hours after taking office on Monday. Among his first actions, he plans to address illegal immigration and border security, setting the stage for large-scale deportations.
Meanwhile, lawmakers and human rights advocates prepare to challenge Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.
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