Trump's incoming "border czar" details plans to track down undocumented minors
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Tom Homan at the Republican National Convention on July 17 in Milwaukee, Wis. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President-elect Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan said in a new interview out Thursday he wants to use nonprofits and private contractors to help the government locate undocumented minors it's lost track of.
Why it matters: Trump made cracking down on illegal immigration via mass deportations one of the cornerstone pledges of his 2024 presidential campaign.
- Homan will be one of the key officials tasked with carrying out that vision and has long been a key player in Trump's immigration policies.
- During Trump's first term, Homan was the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and played a role in crafting the administration's controversial family separation policy.
State of play: Homan told the Washington Post in an article published Thursday that the administration plans to locate more than 300,000 children he described as "missing" in the U.S.
- These children and teens are typically the responsibility of the Office of Refugee Resettlement at the Department of Health and Human Services, which is tasked with finding sponsors to take custody of the minors.
- Although the government conducts follow-up check-ins, some minors or their guardians stop responding to the queries or can't be reached.
- "I think some of these children will be in forced labor, and some will be in the sex trade," Homan said. "I think some will be perfectly fine. We just want to make sure."
The big picture: Both Trump and Homan have previously expressed support for deporting families of mixed immigration status, and Homan expounded on the idea in the interview with the Post.
- "Here's the issue," Homan told the Post. "You knew you were in the country illegally and chose to have a child. So you put your family in that position."
- He noted that it will be up to families to decide if they would prefer to be deported together or split up.
- Homan also said the U.S. would resume family detentions and "construct family facilities" to do so.
Zoom in: Trump has revealed more details for how he hopes to carry out his immigration policies since being elected, including signaling openness to detaining migrants in camps and using the military for mass deportations.
- Homan maintained to the Post that resources like National Guard troops would be used in a "targeted" manner. "I don't see this thing as being sweeps and the military going through neighborhoods," he said.
- However, Homan did bring up the prospect of mass ICE worksite raids — which the Biden administration ended — making a return.
Zoom out: Mass deportations are just one facet of Trump's vision for reshaping America's immigration system.
- Trump has also vowed to issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship.
- His incoming White House deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, has said the administration intends to "seal the border shut" and secure a "historic increase in border agents."
Go deeper: Trump's incoming "border Czar": Deportation plan is "worst first"
