‘Border czar’ is Trump supporter
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday said he was bringing a longtime lawman and enthusiastic supporter out of retirement to serve as “border czar” as his administration struggles with a worsening crisis.
Thomas Homan most recently led U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as acting director and was nominated for the job permanently but bowed out because he wanted to retire. He has spent the months since promoting Mr. Trump’s policies on Fox News.
“He’s going to be very much involved with the border,” Mr. Trump told “Fox & Friends” during a phone interview. “He’ll be a border czar, reporting directly to me.”
With this latest appointment, Mr. Trump continues to stack immigration jobs with men who have publicly defended his efforts on television, in some cases removing Senate-approved officials.
The Associated Press first reported that the administration was creating the position of immigration czar, and at the time was considering a former Virginia attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, for the job. But a White House-orchestrated staff shake-up at the Department of Homeland Security put the position on the back burner.
There was squabbling over whether the new office would be in the White House, where the czar would work across the departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Health and Human Services — all of which manage a piece of the border security — or solely within Homeland Security. Mr. Cuccinelli was later named head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services after Mr. Trump asked Lee Francis Cissna to quit.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Homan would probably be based out of the White House but would spend much of his time at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mr. Trump said he has not decided yet whether he would nominate Kevin McAleenan, the acting Homeland Security secretary, to the position permanently. Mr. McAleenan is the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection and moved up to the top spot after Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned in April.
More than 100,000 people have crossed the border each month for the past few months, most of them families. That level hadn’t been seen since 2004, when most of those crossing were single men, who could be sent back more easily.