Thomas Homan served as Acting Director of ICE from January 2017 to June 2018. Prior to taking on the role of director, he served as Executive Associate Director for the agency from 2013 to 2017, and was in charge of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Homan has been a staunch advocate and defender of the family separation policy, even authoring a memo recommending it to then-DHS Secretary John Kelly.
Homan Announced He Was Retiring From ICE In April 2018. [ICE press release, 4/30/18]
Homan Is Currently A FOX News Contributor. [FOX News, 10/24/20]
Homan Is Currently A Fellow With The Immigration Reform Law Institute. [IRLI – Thomas D. Homan, accessed 11/9/20]
January 2020: Homan Spoke At University Of Pennsylvania College Republicans Event. “Homan spoke for an hour to an audience of more than 40 attendees. Outside, a similar number of protesters gathered in Houston Market and surrounding stairwells, blocked from the door by Penn security officials. Homan emphasized the tragedy of the border crisis, but said ICE is not the agency that controls the detainment centers, and should not be blamed for enforcing Congress’ laws. The event, “ICE: Fact vs. Fiction,” was hosted by Penn’s College Republicans.” [Daily Pennsylvanian, 1/29/20]
April 2020: Homan Released Book Promoted By Trump As “Great,” Newsweek Reported It “Reads As A Love Letter To Trump’s Presidency.” “President Donald Trump has offered high praise for a “great new book” by Thomas Homan, the former acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency—and it is not hard to see why. Titled Defend the Border and Save Lives: Solving Our Most Important Humanitarian and Security Crisis, much of Homan’s new book reads as a love letter to Trump’s presidency, with the former ICE chief calling on Americans to re-elect the president in November.” [Newsweek, 4/22/20]
Homan Has Made Multiple Appearances On Panels For Center For Immigration Studies. [CIS YouTube, accessed 11/9/20]
Homan In October 2020: “I Don’t Call Them Cages. They Are Chain-Linked Dividers.” “Homan pushed back on the notion that children are put into cages while under custody by border patrol agents on the southern border. “First of all, I don’t call them cages. They are chain-linked dividers that kept children separate from unrelated adults which we should have done, you know, to protect the children. But, if they want to call them cages, fine, but, they got to admit they were approved, funded, constructed, and utilized under the Biden administration,” Homan said.” [FOX News, 10/24/20]
Headline: “Ex-ICE Director Says He Considered ‘Beating’ Latino Congressman During Hearing.” [Newsweek, 7/15/19]
Homan Authored DHS Memo Suggesting Family Separation Policy That Made Its Way To John Kelly. “When [John] Kelly took over the agency as Trump’s first homeland security secretary, he began looking for policy options to prevent a repeat of 2014, when migrant families and underage minors overwhelmed U.S. border agents and stations. One of the initiatives that made its way to Kelly, according to current and former DHS officials, was outlined in a memo written in the aftermath of the 2014 crisis by senior Homeland Security officials, including Thomas Homan. A former Border Patrol agent, Homan is now the soon-to-retire top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement… The memo was sent to then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, according to current and former officials. But their recommendations — including family separations triggered by the misdemeanor offense of entering the United States illegally — were considered excessive.” [Washington Post, 6/19/18]
April 2018: Homan Signed Memo To DHS Secretary Urging Detention And Prosecution Of Parents Crossing Border With Children. “The nation’s top immigration and border officials are urging Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to detain and prosecute all parents caught crossing the Mexican border illegally with their children, a stark change in policy that would result in the separation of families that until now have mostly been kept together. If approved, the zero-tolerance measure could split up thousands of families… In a memorandum that outlines the proposal and was obtained by The Washington Post, officials say that threatening adults with criminal charges and prison time would be the ‘most effective’ way to reverse the steadily rising number of attempted crossings. Most parents now caught crossing the border illegally with their children are quickly released to await civil deportation hearings. The memo sent to Nielsen on Monday — and signed by acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan, Director of Citizenship and Immigration Services L. Francis Cissna and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan — said attempted crossings by parents with children increased to nearly 700 a day last week, the highest level since 2016. The officials predicted that the number will continue to rise if Nielsen does not act.” [Washington Post, 4/26/18]
Homan: Undocumented Immigrants “Should Be Afraid” Under Trump Administration. “President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcer doubled down Friday on recent comments that undocumented immigrants ‘should be afraid’ under the Trump administration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Thomas Homan said in an interview that he has “zero regrets” about his remarks before Congress this week, expanding on them. ‘It needed to be said,’ Homan told CNN on the sidelines of a Central American prosperity and security conference.” [CNN, 6/16/17]
