President-elect Donald Trump further built out his incoming administration, naming former acting ICE chief Tom Homan “border czar” and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
In a social-media post late Sunday, Trump said Homan would be “in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.”
He will oversee the southern and northern border plus maritime and aviation security, Trump said.
Stefanik, 40, is the top ranking woman in House GOP leadership and chairs the House Republican Conference.
“Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement Monday.
Stefanik is known for her aggressive questioning of Ivy League college presidents at a House hearing on antisemitism on college campuses in December. Two of them—University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill and Harvard University’s Claudine Gay—later resigned.
At one time, she was considered a long-shot pick to join Trump on the ticket as vice president.
Homan, who served for a year and half during Trump’s first term, was a divisive figure, ramping up arrests of people living in the U.S. illegally and discarding some of the enforcement priorities of the Obama administration that targeted criminals but left alone otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants.
He started his career in 1984 as a Border Patrol agent, before climbing the ranks in ICE. Under the Obama administration, Homan led the Enforcement and Removal Operations division, responsible for deportations.
Trump made immigration and mass deportations a focus of his campaign, promising “the largest deportation program in American history” as soon as he takes office, and the removal of 20 million immigrants.
Officials familiar with the matter expect Trump to sign a pre-drafted executive order when he takes office ordering the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to deport undocumented migrants.
His team has been drawing up plans to carry out the mass deportation pledge, including discussion of how to pay for it and the possibility of making a national emergency declaration that would allow the incoming administration to repurpose military assets to detain and remove migrants.
Since his decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump and his senior advisers have been gathering candidates for top jobs in the incoming administration.
Last week, Susie Wiles was announced as Trump’s White House chief of staff, the first woman to hold the role.
The Florida political strategist who helped run the Trump campaign is known for her steely calm and professionalism. Wiles ran Trump’s campaign in Florida in 2016 and 2020 before taking on the national job for the 2024 run, serving as campaign co-manager alongside Chris LaCivita.
He will oversee the southern and northern border plus maritime and aviation security, Trump said.
Stefanik, 40, is the top ranking woman in House GOP leadership and chairs the House Republican Conference.
“Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement Monday.
Stefanik is known for her aggressive questioning of Ivy League college presidents at a House hearing on antisemitism on college campuses in December. Two of them—University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill and Harvard University’s Claudine Gay—later resigned.
At one time, she was considered a long-shot pick to join Trump on the ticket as vice president.
He will oversee the southern and northern border plus maritime and aviation security, Trump said.
Stefanik, 40, is the top ranking woman in House GOP leadership and chairs the House Republican Conference.
“Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement Monday.
Stefanik is known for her aggressive questioning of Ivy League college presidents at a House hearing on antisemitism on college campuses in December. Two of them—University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill and Harvard University’s Claudine Gay—later resigned.
At one time, she was considered a long-shot pick to join Trump on the ticket as vice president.
He will oversee the southern and northern border plus maritime and aviation security, Trump said.
Stefanik, 40, is the top ranking woman in House GOP leadership and chairs the House Republican Conference.
“Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement Monday.
Stefanik is known for her aggressive questioning of Ivy League college presidents at a House hearing on antisemitism on college campuses in December. Two of them—University of Pennsylvania’s Liz Magill and Harvard University’s Claudine Gay—later resigned.
At one time, she was considered a long-shot pick to join Trump on the ticket as vice president.