Trump’s Pick to Lead ICE, Who Touted Surge in Immigration Arrests, Steps Down
Nick Miroff, The Washington Post
Thomas Homan, the Trump administration’s top immigration enforcement official, announced Monday that he plans to step down from his job, six months after President Donald Trump nominated him to be director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Homan was named ICE’s acting director soon after Trump took office in 2017, and the tough-talking, barrel-chested former Border Patrol agent quickly became an unapologetic enthusiast for the administration’s more aggressive enforcement approach.
Under Homan, immigration arrests surged 40 percent after agents scrapped an Obama administration policy of targeting serious or violent criminal offenders in favor of casting a wider net. Homan said those living illegally in the United States “should be afraid” that his agents could be coming for them.
Pleased with Homan’s beat-cop demeanor, Trump picked him for the permanent ICE leadership role in November. But his nomination went nowhere and never came up for a vote on the Senate floor.
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