On Monday, Donald Trump announced that Tom Homan, his border czar, will be heading to Minnesota to take over ICE operations in the state. Some Republicans have since characterized Homan as a more adept head who can ease tensions, especially compared to the likes of Greg Bovino and Kristi Noem, now under fire after federal agents shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday.
But as my colleague Russ Choma writes, this narrative of a moderate Homan couldn't be further from the truth. Some evidence? Homan was a key architect in implementing family separations as acting ICE director in the first Trump administration. In the president’s second term, he was appointed “border czar” to take charge of mass deportations and was investigated over cashing in on it. (We reported with the Project On Government Oversight that many of his former private business clients won lucrative border and immigration-related government contracts.)
So, despite Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz saying he had a “productive” conversation with Trump on Monday, in which the president agreed to consider reducing the number of federal agents in the state and promised to talk to DHS about making sure state officials can investigate federal agents fatally shooting Pretti, it would be safe to take it all with some skepticism.
As Trump said himself on Monday, “Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.”
—Alex Nguyen
