SAN YSIDRO, Calif. — In a one-on-one interview at the U.S. southern border on Thursday, incoming border czar Tom Homan stated that the Trump administration would close the Darien Gap, the perilous Panamanian jungle that hundreds of thousands of migrants traverse year on their route north.
“It must happen,” he stated. Closing the Darien Gap will safeguard our national security. Thousands of lives will be saved by it.
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In recent years, Panama has been under pressure to tighten its immigration laws. This month, the country’s immigration officials reported that the number of crossings via the usually lawless 70-mile jungle area had decreased by 42% from the previous year.
Homan declared, “We will cooperate with the foreign government.”
As the president-elect starts outlining an expansionist foreign strategy for his second term, Homan makes these remarks. Trump would not rule out deploying military force to reclaim Greenland or the Panama Canal this week.
Trump’s mass deportation plan would involve collateral arrests of undocumented immigrants without criminal records who are found as ICE agents look for their targets, according to Homan, who served as acting director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the first Trump administration and was once an ICE agent.
Homan cautioned that shortly after Trump assumes office, workplace roundups will resume.
He said, “We’re going to do it smartly.” Although we’re still figuring out how exactly we want to implement this, [work site] activities must resume since it’s the number one location where we uncover victims of forced labor conducted by numerous cartels.
How the administration will finance these ambitious objectives is still a key question. There is now a $230 million budget deficit for ICE, and it is uncertain how and when Congress will reach a financing agreement. Considering that it is less than what the US has spent on military and other aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, Homan stated that $86 billion would be a fantastic place to start.
I’m saying, are we going to protect the boundaries of another country? Why don’t we also defend our borders? Therefore, he said, “Give us the money to do this job.”
Homan declined to comment when asked if officials would use funds from the Defense Department to finance the deportation operation under the Trump administration.
He said, “That decision is above me.” There is no doubt that DOD can be a force multiplier.
Is he running for Congress as well? beds used for detention. There are currently about 34,000 detention beds in the United States, but Homan would like at least 100,000.
Homan responded bluntly to those who opposed large deportations, claiming that they hurt the American economy.
Mass deportation and its effects, in my opinion, are more crucial for this nation than anything else, he stated. The number of young ladies who have been raped and killed is incalculable to me. Our national security has no value in my opinion.
A new notion for a hotline that would enable Americans to report undocumented immigrants they believe have committed crimes in their areas is also being considered by the transition, according to Homan.
He stated, “I want a location where Americans can call and report.” The American people must be taken care of. We must ensure that people have a way to notify traffickers of children and traffickers of forced labor. We want to give them a chance to contribute to the solution.
Homan would also like to implement weekly news briefings that provide deportation updates.
“I think we need to show people exactly what we’re doing and be transparent for the American people,” he stated.
Homan also talks on how ICE’s 287(g) program, which enables the federal agency to collaborate with local law enforcement, is being expanded.
He remarked, “I get a lot of sheriffs who are eager for the 287(g) program to ramp back up.” They are therefore approaching us.
Homan declined to disclose if the government intends to reinstate Title 42, the Covid pandemic emergency public health legislation that facilitated the U.S.’s expulsion of migrants. However, he contended that it would be warranted due to the possibility of migrant-borne illnesses like chickenpox, measles, and tuberculosis.
Homan stated, “I wouldn’t get ahead of him because I don’t know whether (Trump) has made a decision.” However, I believe there might be a case for it.
However, the National Institutes of Health reports that there is scant evidence of epidemics or new disease transmissions brought to the United States by immigrants or refugees.
Additionally, Homan wants to remove the sCBP One app, which was used by migrants to arrange first assessments for asylum under the Biden administration.
According to Homan, the solution is not to design programs that permit thousands of people who we know do not qualify and who we do not adequately screen each week.
Oscar Mendoza Santiago, 44, lives just a few miles away in Tijuana, on the other side of the border. He has been having trouble using the app to make an appointment for months. Since late November, he and his wife, four kids, son, and three grandchildren have been staying in the Movimiento Juventud 2000 shelter. Tents inside, with Christmas decorations still up, are where roughly 100 migrants sleep.
He advised showing kindness and understanding to those who wish to travel to [the United States] for employment.
Santiago said that violence forced him to flee his Mexican homeland and that he has been making fruitless attempts to get an appointment for an asylum examination. He is concerned about the future because the Trump government has promised to discontinue the app.
He stated that staying in Tijuana and working is the backup plan.
The director of the shelter, Jose Maria Garcia, is worried that denying people the opportunity to seek for asylum could push some desperate migrants to try to enter the country illegally.
Trump “won t stop the migrants coming, he said. He will not dissuade them.
However, Homan, who claimed to be in regular contact with the Trump transition team, does believe that the stricter immigration laws will serve as a deterrent.
He replied, “I believe the American people have spoken.” This is the main problem. They proceeded to the polling place. I believe Congress is listening. They will pay us to complete this task. It has less to do with illegal immigration. National security is at issue.
His message to anyone in the U.S. illegally?
Go home.