Trump announces Tom Homan will serve as ‘border tsar’

“I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation’s Borders,” he wrote late on Sunday on his Truth Social site.

Mr Homan was widely expected to rejoin Mr Trump’s second administration in a border-related role.

In addition to overseeing the southern and northern borders and “maritime, and aviation security”, Mr Trump said Mr Homan “will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin”, a central part of his agenda.

He says he had “no doubt” Mr Homan “will do a fantastic, and long-awaited for, job”.

Such a role does not require US Senate confirmation.

In an interview on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures, Mr Homan said the military would not be rounding up and arresting immigrants in the country illegally and that the ICE would move to implement Mr Trump’s plans in a “humane manner”.

He said: “It’s going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They’re good at it.

“When we go out there, we’re going to know who we’re looking for. We most likely know where they’re going to be, and it’s going to be done in a humane manner.”

Earlier this year at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, Mr Homan expressed frustration at the news coverage of a mass deportation operation.

“Wait until 2025,” he said, adding that, while he thinks the US government needs to prioritise national security threats, “no-one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder”.

He also said: “you’ve got my word. Trump comes back in January, I’ll be in his heels coming back, and I will run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has named long-time adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, to be the deputy chief of policy in his new administration.

Vice president-elect JD Vance posted a message of congratulations to Mr Miller on X and said: “This is another fantastic pick by the president.”

Mr Miller was a senior adviser in Mr Trump’s first term and has been a central figure in many of his policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families as a deterrence programme in 2018. Mr Miller helped craft many of Mr Trump’s hardline speeches and plans on immigration.

Since Mr Trump left office, Mr Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organisation of former Trump advisers fashioned as a conservative version of the American Civil Liberties Union, challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as freedom of speech and religion and national security.

Mr Trump also named former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency as he continued to build out his future administration with loyal supporters.

Mr Zeldin, a Republican who mounted a failed bid for governor of New York in 2022, will “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses”, Mr Trump said in a statement.

Mr Zeldin also will maintain “the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet”, Mr Trump said.

Mr Zeldin, who left Congress in January 2023, was a surprising pick for the role. His public appearances both in his own campaigns and on behalf of Mr Trump often had him speaking about issues such as the military, national security, antisemitism, US-Israel relations, immigration and crime.

He was among the Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. While in Congress, he did not serve on committees with oversight of environmental policy.

In the 2022 governor’s race, Mr Zeldin vowed to reverse a fracking ban imposed by Democrats.

In an interview on Monday on the Fox News Channel, Mr Zeldin, 44, said that he will seek to ensure that the United States is able to “pursue energy dominance… bring back American jobs to the auto industry and so much more”.

He is excited to implement Mr Trump’s economic agenda, said Mr Zeldin, adding: “I think the American people are so hungry for it. It’s one of the big reasons why they’re sending him back to the White House.”