Gabinete de los Horrores: Tom Homan -- "Border Czar"¶

Published by: Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Last Updated: 2026-02-12
Confidence: HIGH -- based on 30+ independent sources across Tier 1-2 outlets, court filings, congressional records, and direct video/transcript evidence of statements. All major claims verified via three-source minimum.

Summary¶

32 Dead in Detention, 2 American Citizens Shot by Federal Agents

Under Homan's coordination, 2025 became the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades. Two American citizens -- Renee Good and Alex Pretti -- were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Thomas Douglas Homan (born November 28, 1961) serves as the Trump administration's "Border Czar" -- an unconfirmed, informal White House position that nonetheless grants him enormous coordinating power over immigration enforcement across multiple federal agencies. He is the architect of the first Trump administration's family separation policy, which ripped more than 5,500 children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018 -- an act journalist Caitlin Dickerson of The Atlantic called him the "intellectual father" of. As of 2026, an estimated 1,360 of those children have still not been reunited with their families.

In his current role, Homan has overseen a dramatic escalation of immigration enforcement that has produced the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades (at least 32 deaths in 2025), the largest single immigration enforcement deployment in U.S. history (Operation Metro Surge, Minneapolis), the fatal shootings of two American citizens by federal agents (Renee Good and Alex Pretti), and a systematic campaign of threats and intimidation against elected officials, judges, and sanctuary cities. He has pushed to more than double ICE detention capacity to 100,000 beds while receiving consulting fees from GEO Group, the private prison corporation that profits most directly from detention expansion.

Homan's trajectory -- from Border Patrol agent to ICE Acting Director to Heritage Foundation fellow to Project 2025 contributor to "Border Czar" -- represents the institutional capture of immigration enforcement by its most aggressive ideological faction. His public rhetoric traffics in threats of arrest against mayors, governors, judges, and members of Congress, while his policy decisions have created the conditions for mass death in detention and lethal force against civilians.

Position and Authority¶

The "Border Czar" Role¶

On November 10, 2024, President-elect Trump announced Homan would serve as "Border Czar," writing that he would be "in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin" and responsible for "the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security." (NPR, Dec. 2024; American Presidency Project)

The position is deliberately structured to maximize power while minimizing accountability:

No Senate confirmation required -- unlike ICE Director or DHS Secretary, the role bypasses congressional vetting entirely.
Direct White House access -- Homan reports to the President, not to a Cabinet secretary, giving him influence over agencies like DHS, ICE, and CBP without being formally within their chain of command.
Cross-agency coordination -- He sets the agenda for how multiple federal agencies carry out immigration policy, potentially overriding the traditional Cabinet hierarchy.
Limited congressional oversight -- As a White House appointee rather than a Senate-confirmed official, he is insulated from many forms of legislative scrutiny. (CNBC, Nov. 2024)

Despite Homan's claims of reporting to the White House, his DHS ethics statement lists his position as "Border Czar, Department of Homeland Security" -- a contradiction that underscores the deliberate ambiguity of the role. (Washington Post, May 2025)

Salary: $195,200/year per federal records.

Actual vs. Formal Power¶

In practice, Homan's authority far exceeds his formal title. He has:
- Personally taken command of Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis (January 2026)
- Removed the top Border Patrol official in Minnesota (Gregory Bovino)
- Announced troop drawdowns and deployments
- Publicly threatened elected officials with arrest
- Directed the DOJ to investigate members of Congress
- Set ICE arrest quotas (pushing from 3,000 to 7,000 daily arrests)
- Driven detention bed expansion to 100,000

Career and Background¶

Early Career (1961-2017)¶

Born November 28, 1961, in West Carthage, New York. Father and grandfather were local police officers.
Associate degree in criminal justice from Jefferson Community College; bachelor's from SUNY Polytechnic Institute.
1983: West Carthage police officer.
1984: Joined the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as a Border Patrol agent in San Diego sector.
Rose through the ranks over 30 years as agent, investigator, supervisor, and eventually senior leadership.
2013: Appointed by President Obama as ICE Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, directing ~8,000 personnel and a $3 billion budget.
2015: Received the Presidential Rank Award from President Obama for effectiveness in deportation operations. (ICE.gov; Britannica)

Post-Government Career (2018-2024)¶

June 2018: Retired from ICE after Senate signaled it would not confirm his nomination as permanent director.
Became Fox News contributor.
2022: Joined the Heritage Foundation as a visiting fellow.
Contributed to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's policy blueprint for a second Trump administration, which proposes mass arrests, expanded detention, and the elimination of sanctuary city policies. (San Francisco Chronicle; Wikipedia)
Founded Homeland Strategic Consulting LLC, which claimed to have secured "tens of millions of dollars of federal contracts" for clients. (Accountable.US via OpenSecrets)
Received consulting fees from GEO Group, the private prison corporation (see Conflict of Interest section).

White Supremacist-Adjacent Associations¶

February 2022: Attended the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), organized by white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Homan claims he left before the event began after looking up Fuentes on his phone. However, when asked about Fuentes afterward, Homan called back a reporter to clarify that he was "not saying this is a bad group. I'm saying I don't know." (HuffPost, July 2024; Daily Beast)
Listed as "special dinner gala honoree" at a convention for ACT for America, designated by the SPLC as an "anti-Muslim hate group." (The Intercept, Sept. 2018)

Trump I: ICE Acting Director (2017-2018)¶

Appointment and Enforcement Escalation¶

On January 30, 2017, Trump demoted acting ICE director Daniel Ragsdale and installed Homan. He was the first ICE Director who came up through the agency's ranks. During his tenure:

ICE arrested 41,319 people between Inauguration Day and end of April 2017 -- a 38% increase over the same period in 2016.
He became the public face of Trump's immigration crackdown, regularly appearing at White House briefings to defend mass arrests.

Architect of Family Separation¶

This is the defining act of Homan's career.

Tom Homan on Family Separation as Deterrent (2022, The Atlantic)

"Most parents don't want to be separated. I'd be lying to you if I didn't think that would have an effect."

As early as 2014, while serving under Obama, Homan began arguing that separating children from parents at the border would be an effective deterrent. He pitched the idea to then-Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who rejected it. Johnson stated that "as a father, he couldn't stomach separating children from their parents." (The Atlantic, Caitlin Dickerson, 2022)

In April 2018, Homan and Kevin McAleenan formally advised DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to implement the "zero tolerance" policy, which prosecuted all parents caught crossing the border with children and mandated the separation of families. He participated in the May 2018 press conference announcing the policy's implementation. (NPR, Nov. 2024; Media Matters)

Result: More than 5,500 children were separated from their parents. As of 2024, approximately 1,360 children had not been reunited with their families. The policy was halted by executive order in June 2018 after massive public outcry. (America's Voice; Human Rights Watch, 2024)

The Nuremberg Defense¶

When confronted about the policy, Homan deployed what reporters and analysts immediately recognized as the Nuremberg Defense:

During a June 2018 CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer, when pressed repeatedly on whether separating children from parents is "humane," Homan retreated to: "It's a law and I'm law enforcement." (CNN, June 2018)

On Fox News with Tucker Carlson, responding to comparisons between ICE and Nazis: "I think it's an insult to the brave men and women of the Border Patrol and ICE to call law enforcement officers Nazis. They are simply enforcing the laws enacted by Congress." (Newsweek, June 2018)

The "just following orders" argument was, of course, the defense used by Nazi officials at the Nuremberg trials -- rejected by the international tribunal as a legitimate defense for crimes against humanity.

In an October 2024 "60 Minutes" interview, Homan continued to defend family separation, characterizing it as "an effective deterrent" that "saved lives." (PolitiFact, Nov. 2024)

Trump II: "Border Czar" (2025-present)¶

Enforcement Escalation¶

Under Homan's coordination:

ICE budget tripled from ~$9.5B (FY2024) to $28.7B (FY2025).
Detention population surged 78% to 68,440 detainees by mid-December 2025 (up from ~38,500 in December 2024).
100,000 detention beds targeted -- more than doubling existing capacity. Homan stated: "We need 100,000 beds. So I can fill 100,000 beds." (CNN, Dec. 2024; Fox News Radio, Aug. 2025)
Daily arrest quota doubled from 3,000 to 7,000 in July 2025.
393,000 arrests in the first year -- but fewer than 14% involved violent offenses. Approximately 40% had no criminal record. (CBS News; NBC News; NewsNation)
ICE facility inspections dropped 36.25% even as detentions and deaths soared. (POGO)

Operation Metro Surge (Minneapolis, 2025-2026)¶

On January 6, 2026, DHS launched what it called "the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out," deploying approximately 3,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. The operation was commanded initially by Gregory Bovino and was characterized by aggressive street-level enforcement in a state that had never voted for Trump.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison stated the operation was "clearly about political retribution against a state that has never voted for Donald Trump and that has policies in opposition to his agenda." (MN AG Office, Jan. 2026)

The operation produced:
- The killing of Renee Good (January 7, 2026) -- a 37-year-old American citizen, writer, and mother, shot three times by ICE agent Jonathan Ross while in her SUV. An independent autopsy found she was shot in the head. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara called the killing "predictable and preventable." (NPR, Jan. 2026; NBC News, Jan. 2026)
- The killing of Alex Pretti (January 24, 2026) -- a 37-year-old American ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA, shot multiple times by CBP agents while filming enforcement actions with his phone and standing between agents and a woman they had pushed to the ground. DHS initially claimed an "armed struggle" with a man who "approached" agents with a handgun -- a narrative contradicted by eyewitness accounts and video evidence. The CBP's own report to Congress did not mention Pretti reaching for his firearm. His death was ruled a homicide. (Wikipedia; PBS, Jan. 2026; Washington Post, Jan. 2026)

Homan was sent to Minneapolis after Pretti's killing to take personal command. He removed Bovino from command, saying "I didn't come to Minnesota for photo-ops and headlines." He announced a drawdown of 700 agents on February 4, leaving approximately 2,000 in the state, calling it "smarter enforcement, not less enforcement." (NPR, Jan. 2026; NBC News, Feb. 2026)

The White House touted "4,000+ criminal illegals removed from Minnesota streets" -- but DHS did not provide a breakdown of how many had actual criminal charges versus civil immigration violations. (White House, Feb. 2026)

Connection to Deaths¶

The Chain of Causation: Policy to Death¶

Tom Homan does not personally kill anyone. But his policy decisions create the conditions in which people die. The chain is direct and documented:

32 Dead in ICE Detention in 2025 -- Highest in Two Decades

The death toll nearly tripled from 2024 (11 deaths) to 2025 (32 deaths). December 2025 was the deadliest single month on record. As of January 25, 2026, six more had died.

1. Detention Deaths (2025: at least 32 dead)

Homan pushed for and achieved massive detention expansion: from ~38,500 detainees to 68,440 by December 2025 -- a 78% increase.
He demanded 100,000 beds and pushed to "fill" them.
ICE facilities hit 109% capacity. In February 2025, ICE released at least 160 detainees because there was literally no room.
Meanwhile, facility inspections dropped 36% -- meaning fewer eyes on deteriorating conditions.
Result: 32 people died in ICE custody in 2025 -- the highest death toll since 2004, nearly tripling 2024's total of 11. Causes included medical neglect, tuberculosis, strokes, respiratory failure, suicide, and gun violence. December 2025 was the deadliest month on record. (NPR, Oct. 2025; Axios, Jan. 2026; American Immigration Council; The Appeal)
DHS responded to the death toll by claiming there was "no spike in deaths" -- arguing the death rate per person was stable. This is the logic of a bureaucracy that considers more people dying acceptable as long as you also detained more people.
As of January 25, 2026, six more deaths had been disclosed for the new year.

2. Shootings by Federal Agents (at least 30 incidents, 8 deaths since Jan. 2025)

Homan's "flood the zone" strategy put thousands of armed federal agents into communities with minimal training for civilian contact, no consistent body camera use, and aggressive arrest quotas.
At least 30 shootings by immigration agents have occurred since January 20, 2025, resulting in at least 8 deaths. (The Marshall Project, Jan. 2026; American Prospect, Jan. 2026)
Two American citizens (Good and Pretti) were killed in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge -- an operation Homan was ultimately sent to command.
Homan himself warned in March 2025 that "if the hateful rhetoric doesn't die down, there's going to be bloodshed" -- framing the violence as a consequence of critics, not of his own deployment of armed agents into civilian areas.

3. Collateral Damage Acknowledged

Homan publicly acknowledged that people without criminal records would be swept up as "collateral arrests."
Internal data confirmed: ~40% of those arrested had no criminal record. Fewer than 14% involved violent offenses.
This means the majority of enforcement actions targeted people who posed no public safety threat -- while the massive deployments created lethal encounters with bystanders and citizens.

Threats and Intimidation¶

Pattern: Systematic Threats Against Democratic Institutions

Homan has publicly threatened to arrest or prosecute mayors, governors, police commissioners, members of Congress, and judges who resist his enforcement agenda -- a deliberate campaign to suppress constitutional checks on executive power.

Tom Homan has conducted a sustained, public campaign of threats against elected officials, judges, and cities that resist his enforcement agenda. This is not incidental rhetoric -- it is a deliberate strategy of intimidation against the democratic institutions that could check his power.

Against Mayors¶

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (November 25, 2024): "Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing -- he's willing to go to jail, I'm willing to put him in jail." He cited 8 USC 1324, claiming sanctuary policies constitute felony harboring. (ABC News, Nov. 2024; Fox News; The Hill)
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox (February 23, 2025, CPAC): "You're not a police commissioner. Take that badge off your chest. Put it in the desk drawer. Because you became a politician. You forgot what it's like to be a cop." And: "I'm coming to Boston, and I'm bringing hell with me." (NBC Boston; WCVB; Axios Boston)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (February 2025): "If he doesn't come through, I'll be back in New York City, and we won't be sitting on the couch -- I'll be in his office, up his butt."
New York State (2025): "You're not going to stop us, New York state... If you don't [change sanctuary status], get out of the way, we're going to do our job. We'll double the man-force if we have to." (CBS New York)

Against Governors¶

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (2025): When asked what would happen to governors who resist, Homan said: "Wait till you see what's coming." Evers called the threats "chilling." (WBAY, May 2025)
California Governor Newsom and L.A. Mayor Bass (2025): "I'll say it about anybody. You cross that line, it's a felony to knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien. It's a felony to impede law enforcement doing their job." (NBC News)

Against Members of Congress¶

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (February 2025): After AOC hosted a "Know Your Rights" webinar for constituents, Homan said he contacted the DOJ to investigate whether she could be prosecuted. "I sent an email to the Deputy AG today... Is she crossing the line, I'm working with the DOJ to find out. Maybe AOC is going to be in trouble now." AOC responded: "Come for me. Do I look like I care?" (Newsweek, Feb. 2025; The New Republic; Latin Times)

Against Judges¶

March 2025: After the administration deported people to El Salvador via deportation flights despite a court order, Homan stated: "Another flight every day. We are not stopping. I don't care what the judges think." He later partially walked this back to apply to one specific case. (CREW)
A federal judge in Minnesota documented at least 96 court orders that ICE had violated in 74 cases, calling it likely an undercount. (Wikipedia)

Blanket Threat Pattern¶

DOJ "On Notice" List (August 2025): The Trump administration formally put sanctuary cities "on notice," targeting New York, Boston, Chicago, California, Colorado, Minnesota, and others. (Governing.com)
Homan's consistent legal theory: anyone who "harbors or conceals illegal aliens from federal law enforcement officers" is committing a felony. He applies this interpretation to mayors, governors, police commissioners, and members of Congress exercising their constitutional authority.

Conflict of Interest: GEO Group¶

Homan's ethics disclosure, filed with DHS and obtained by the Washington Post, reveals he received more than $5,000 in consulting fees from GEO Care -- a division of the GEO Group, the nation's largest private prison company -- during the two years before joining the Trump administration. Because ethics rules allow reporting within ranges, the actual amount could be far higher. (Washington Post, May 2025)

The corruption loop:
1. Homan and Pam Bondi consult for GEO Group.
2. GEO Group donates $1 million to Trump's Make America Great Again PAC and $500,000 to Trump's inauguration.
3. Homan and Bondi join the Trump administration.
4. Homan pushes for 100,000 detention beds -- the primary beneficiary being GEO Group.
5. GEO Group receives multiple new contracts, including a 15-year, $1 billion contract for a facility in Newark, New Jersey. New contracts generate $130 million in combined annual revenue. GEO's stock price doubled after Trump's election.

Additionally, Homan played a key role in hiring David Venturella, a former GEO Group executive, as the "No. 2" official overseeing ICE's detention contracts. At least three GEO executives -- Matthew Albence, Daniel Bible, and Daniel Ragsdale -- previously held senior ICE roles. (Daily Beast; House Judiciary Democrats, Aug. 2025)

Homan has pledged to recuse himself from GEO-related contracting decisions. Ethics experts and advocacy groups argue that recusal is insufficient given his broad authority over the entire immigration enforcement apparatus.

Notable Statements¶

Direct quotes, with dates and context:

On family separation as deterrent (2022, The Atlantic):

"Most parents don't want to be separated. I'd be lying to you if I didn't think that would have an effect."

Republican National Convention (July 17, 2024):

"I got a message to the millions of the illegal aliens that Joe Biden released in our country in violation of federal law: you better start packing now."
"[Biden's border policy] is not mismanagement, it's not incompetence... It's a choice. It's national suicide."

National Conservatism Conference (July 2024):

"If you're here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder. Trump comes back in January. I'll be on his heels coming back. And I will run the biggest deportation operation this country has ever seen."

On Denver's mayor (November 25, 2024):

"Me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing -- he's willing to go to jail, I'm willing to put him in jail."

CPAC, on Boston (February 23, 2025):

"If I offend anyone today, I don't give a shit."
"I'm coming to Boston, and I'm bringing hell with me."
"You're not a police commissioner. Take that badge off your chest. Put it in the desk drawer. Because you became a politician."

On AOC (February 2025):

"Maybe AOC's gonna be in trouble now."

On judges (March 2025):

"Another flight every day. We are not stopping. I don't care what the judges think."

On mass deportation (2025):

"If you're in the country illegally, you are not off the table."
"We're going to war with the criminal cartels. We're going to war with illegal aliens."

On sanctuary city leaders (2025):

"Wait till you see what's coming."
"Get the hell outta the way."

On detention capacity (2025):

"We need 100,000 beds. So I can fill 100,000 beds."

On the Nuremberg Defense (June 2018, Fox News):

"I think it's an insult to the brave men and women of the Border Patrol and ICE to call law enforcement officers Nazis. They are simply enforcing the laws enacted by Congress."

In Minneapolis (January 29, 2026):

"I didn't come to Minnesota for photo-ops and headlines."
"If you don't like what ICE is doing, instead of protesting this building, go protest Congress."

Accountability Assessment¶

Tom Homan bears direct, documentable responsibility for:

Architecting family separation -- He conceived the policy, advocated for it for years, formally recommended its implementation, and publicly defended it using the Nuremberg Defense. Over 5,500 children were taken from their parents. Approximately 1,360 remain separated as of 2024.
Creating conditions for mass death in detention -- His push for 100,000 beds, doubled arrest quotas, and enforcement surge produced the deadliest year in ICE detention in two decades (32 deaths in 2025). He did this while ICE inspections dropped 36%, ensuring less oversight as more people were crammed into facilities.
Profiting from the system he expanded -- He received consulting fees from GEO Group, then used his government position to massively expand the detention system that enriches GEO Group. This is a textbook conflict of interest, regardless of his recusal pledge.
Creating the conditions for lethal force against civilians -- His "flood the zone" strategy placed thousands of armed, poorly supervised federal agents in civilian areas. At least 30 shootings and 8 deaths have resulted. Two American citizens died in Minneapolis during an operation he ultimately commanded.
Systematic intimidation of democratic institutions -- His threats against mayors, governors, judges, and members of Congress constitute a deliberate effort to suppress the democratic checks that could constrain his power. When a federal official threatens to jail an elected official for exercising lawful authority, or says "I don't care what the judges think," that is an assault on constitutional governance.
Enabling white nationalist policy goals -- Whether or not Homan personally holds white supremacist beliefs, he attended AFPAC (and refused to denounce Fuentes), was honored by an SPLC-designated hate group, contributed to Project 2025, and has overseen an enforcement regime that disproportionately targets communities of color. The policy outcomes align with the stated goals of the white nationalist movement.

Assessment: Tom Homan is not a bureaucrat following orders. He is the orders. He conceived the cruelest policies, advocated for them, implemented them, profited from them, and threatened anyone who tried to stop him. He is one of the primary architects of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement apparatus and bears direct responsibility for its human consequences.

Sources¶

Tier 1 Sources¶

Tier 2 Sources¶

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Reference Sources¶

Published by Mortui Vivos Docent Intelligence Project
Methodology: Bellingcat-standard OSINT -- public sources only
All claims verified via three-source minimum where possible
Source tiers assigned per project methodology (see osint/methodology.md)