Thread: Thomas Homan, Trump's top immigration enforcer, resigns

Thomas Homan, Trump's top immigration enforcer, resigns

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY
Published 4:39 p.m. ET April 30, 2018 | Updated 4:43 p.m. ET April 30, 2018


(Photo: Pool, Getty Images)


Thomas Homan, who has headed President Trump's efforts to ramp up immigration arrests and crack down on so-called sanctuary cities, announced on Monday that he is leaving the administration and retiring.

Homan was one of Trump's first appointments in January 2017, tapped to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as its agents were ordered to round up more undocumented immigrants living throughout the U.S. Homan did just that, increasing the number of arrests in his first year, and winning repeated praise from Trump.

But Homan has been serving as an interim director, with Trump only nominating him to permanently lead the agency in November. Homan has been facing a difficult road to Senate confirmation over his agency's aggressive enforcement actions, its battles with local governments over their role in immigration enforcement, and the increase of arrests of undocumented immigrants without a criminal record.

Eighteen Democratic senators sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security last week, asking why the administration took nearly 10 months to officially nominate an ICE director. And they asked why the department had not answered its questions of Homan’s handling of ICE, when the agency was "making radical – and in some cases possibly illegal – changes in immigration enforcement and practices."

“We understand that the Trump Administration may be concerned about Mr. Homan answering questions under oath about his leadership of ICE, as well as the possibility that Mr. Homan’s nomination could be defeated in the Senate,” the senators wrote.

The agency said Homan had been planning to retire for months, and stayed only at the request of John Kelly, the president's chief of staff and former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. In a statement, Homan called his decision to retire "bittersweet" but long overdue after 34 years working for the federal government.

"I am humbled and inspired by the 20,000 American patriots who serve this agency and protect our nation, increasingly in the face of unfair and false criticism from politicians and the media," Homan said. "Because of their tremendous dedication and hard work, we have made significant progress this past year in enforcing our nation’s immigration and customs laws, and in protecting public safety and national security."

Homan led what has been the biggest change in immigration under the Trump administration. The president's travel ban has been stuck in the courts for months, and his signature border wall has not been built because Congress, and Mexico, have been unwilling to pay for it.

But through ICE arrests, Trump has been able to increase immigration enforcement unilaterally with no changes needed from Congress.

Trump long complained that former President Obama placed too many restrictions on ICE agents, only allowing them to target undocumented immigrants with criminal records and other national security concerns.

Trump was able to reverse that by issuing presidential memorandum that "unshackled" ICE agents.

Homan implemented that quickly, issuing a set of directives that made virtually all of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants potential targets for arrest.

Over the first few months of the Trump administration, total arrests were up, including those of undocumented immigrants who only had immigration violations on their record. ICE agents have been targeting more worksites, where they are targeting both undocumented workers and business owners who hire them.

Homan also was one of the administration's most vocal critics of so-called "sanctuary cities," local governments that limit their cooperation with federal immigration agents. Homan has been especially critical of leaders in California, who have fought back hard against the president's enforcement actions.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...gns/566210002/

Some from caravan already released

Ouch! I'll admit I was a little concerned about Homan when he first took the job because of his service under Obama. However, he has proven to be a more than adequate Director of ICE. Now we are forced to worry about who his replacement will be. Yes, I'm worried!

William Gheen‏ @ALIPAC 15s15 seconds ago




William Gheen Retweeted Jimbobbarley
So @realDonaldTrump is pushing out the ICE director that was the strongest voice against illegal immigration and illegal immigrants in #Trump's administration. This is terrible news and another terrible decision by Trump! https://www.alipac.us/f12/thomas-homan-trumps-top-immigration-enforcer-resigns-358258/ …

William Gheen added,
Jimbobbarley @Jimbobbarley
So Sad A Man Doing #Excellent Work Is Leaving This Is Not Making America Great @ICEgov @ICEgovCareers @realDonaldTrump Why Are #IllegalAliens Winning You Will Be Missed ICE Deputy Director Thomas D. Homan @ALIPAC @NumbersUSA @FAIRImmigration #SecureOurBorders …





0 replies 0 retweets 1 like

https://twitter.com/ALIPAC/status/991316433106800640