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Tom Homan, who President Donald Trump has named as the incoming administration’s “border czar,” said Wednesday night that a plan to deport large-scale illegal immigrants is underway and will require funding from Congress. Ta.
In an interview with CNN’s Caitlan Collins, he said that a minimum of 100,000 beds are needed to detain illegal immigrants, more than double the 40,000 detention beds currently funded by ICE, and that the president’s He said more Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are needed to carry out executions. A plan for the mass deportation of electors.
“It all depends on the funding we get from The Source,” Homan said, adding that it remains to be seen how much additional funding the Trump administration will seek from the Republican-led House and Senate.
Homan also said he would ask the military to help transport migrants.
“They’re not going to arrest people, but they can be a force multiplier in doing what we need to do without needing a badge or a gun,” he said.
The president-elect announced last month that Homan, a veteran of immigration enforcement under the Obama administration and acting director of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump, would be the next White House’s “border czar.”
President Trump said on Truth Social that Homan will be “in charge of our nation’s borders, including but not limited to the southern border, the northern border, and all maritime and air security (‘border emperor’).”
Homan said he is “still working” on the Trump administration’s plan to carry out the president-elect’s deportation pledge.
“It will be ready for launch on Inauguration Day,” he said.
Homan said the Trump administration will prioritize deporting criminals, gang members and fugitives.
He did not say how many illegal immigrants he wants to deport by the end of President Trump’s next four years in office.
“We don’t have a number. We want to arrest as many illegal immigrants as possible,” Homan said. “If you’re in this country illegally, you’re not off the table. It’s against the law. It’s a crime to enter this country illegally.”
Homan said Trump’s deportation plan also includes expelling undocumented parents whose children are U.S. citizens.
What happens to these children is “the parents’ decision,” he says.
“Their children can stay and live with relatives, stay with the other parent, or take them with them. We do not deport U.S. citizens. But , they put themselves in that position. We didn’t,” Homan said. “The bottom line is that just because you have a child in this country doesn’t exempt you from the law.”
Homan also said the Trump administration would reinstate large-scale immigration raids at work sites, a potentially important development for some industries that depend on the labor of undocumented immigrants. He said that there is a sex. President Joe Biden ended these raids and instead focused on the employers who exploit these workers.
“On-the-ground enforcement is coming back in a big way,” he said. Under President Trump’s first term, ICE conducted such raids that resulted in the removal of hundreds of undocumented workers.
Homan said Democratic-led cities that limit or prohibit cooperation with the federal government on immigration enforcement will limit ICE’s ability to deport criminals and force immigration enforcement officers into neighborhoods. He said he expected more illegal immigrants to be found and arrested.
Stephen Miller, a longtime Trump aide and advocate of hard-line immigration policy who is set to become Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff for policy, said on Fox News this month that Trump is “the largest immigrant in U.S. history.” He said he would carry out a deportation operation.
Mr. Homan told Mr. Collins that “there is no daylight” between him and Mr. Miller.
“My goal is to arrest as many people as I can with the resources I have,” Homan said. “This operation will not stop. We have four years to continue this operation. … If you are in the country illegally, we have a problem.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.