Washington, DC — Last week, pundits and media observers speculated that the horrors on display in Minneapolis and the demotion of the antisemitic CBP leader Gregory Bovino would force the Trump administration to rein in their abuses and overreach.
Yet subsequent developments, including the elevation of longtime anti-immigrant leader and current border czar Tom Homan to be point person in Minneapolis, should disabuse any observer from thinking this administration under President Trump and Stephen Miller’s leadership will chart a different, softer course on immigration on their own.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“It’s full steam ahead by the extreme, violent and deadly mass deportation machine. Despite public outcry over the violence and lawlessness at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis and around the country, and a strong majority of Americans calling for a different approach, Trump and Miller’s mass deportation agenda proceeds full steam ahead. The terror campaign continues and the destruction inherent to Trump/Miller’s approach will only escalate, threatening every American. It is up to Congress and the increasingly vigilant American public to hold them accountable.”
Among the key reminders that Trump and Miller are planning full steam ahead on mass deportation include:
- Reminder about the real Tom Homan: Despite some talk that Tom Homan would be a voice of reason and embodies a different approach, a quick look at Homan’s record and rhetoric makes clear he’s just a different face at the helm of the same dangerous and harmful effort.
- As noted in America’s Voice “Five Things To Know About So-Called ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan,”: “Homan has ties to notorious anti-immigrant hate groups and during Trump’s first term told immigrant families to live in fear, stating that “You should be uncomfortable, you should look over your shoulder, and you need to be worried.” During a gathering of conservatives in 2024, Homan promised mass havoc if Trump returned to power in 2025, stating that “I’ll be on his heels coming back, and I will run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen … They ain’t seen shit yet. Wait until 2025.”
- New York Times, ‘ICE Expands Power of Agents to Arrest People Without Warrants,” noting, “Amid tensions over President Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota and beyond, federal agents were told this week that they have broader power to arrest people without a warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo reviewed by The New York Times. The change expands the ability of lower-level ICE agents to carry out sweeps rounding up people they encounter and suspect are undocumented immigrants, rather than targeted enforcement operations in which they set out, warrant in hand, to arrest a specific person.”
- Bloomberg, “ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US” – noting, “Despite protests in small towns and cities across the US, the Trump administration is pushing ahead with the purchase of warehouses it plans to convert into immigration jails in what could be the largest expansion of such detention capacity in US history.”
