With the change in ICE and CBP strategy to more “discreet” but equally harmful operationsthe tsar of the border, Tom Homanclarified that not for a minute do they think that the Trump government will abandon its promise of mass deportations.
Homan seems to be referring to the fact that everything seems to be calm, but what is coming is a storm, especially now that ICE and CBP are being showered with multimillion-dollar funds specifically aimed at detentions and deportations.
The DHS claims that 605,000 immigrants were deported last year, although other estimates say it was close to half a million. Likewise, the Trump administration says that 1.9 million immigrants self-deported.
The point is that Trump promised to deport a million immigrants each year and the quota of 1,000 daily arrests has been imposed, regardless of the diversion of funds and personnel from vital areas of the government, especially public security, to carry out immigration work, which compromises national security.
And the strategy persists despite opinion polls that overwhelmingly reject Trump’s immigration policy, saying it is excessive and “goes too far.”
But Homan, at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix, issued serious warnings.
“If you think last year’s historic figure is good, wait until next year, when we will have 10,000 more agents on the border. You haven’t seen anything yet… This year is going to be a good year. Mass deportations are coming“, declared the official.
Although most of those detained and deported do not have a violent criminal history, that matters little to the Trump government because according to Homan, it is necessary to “send a message to the entire world” that undocumented immigration will not be tolerated.
“I don’t care how long you’ve been here; if you entered this country illegally, you cheated. You cheated the system,” Homan said.
Trump considering green playing cards for some undocumented immigrants?
However, in an interview with CBS News, the border czar stated that there are “discussions” between Trump and his cabinet about the idea of granting green playing cards to certain undocumented immigrants.
“I know the president is talking to several members of his Cabinet. There are conversations going on. I’m involved in some and I’m not involved in others, but I’m not going to get ahead of the president on this issue,” Homan told CBS immigration correspondent Camilo Montoya-Galvez.
The journalist asked Homan if he would consider any path to legalization for immigrants who have no criminal history and who respect the law, including “Dreamers.”
Homan spoke of the alleged “conversations” but did not offer additional details.
The Trump administration is delegalizing as many immigrants as possible canceling programs like TPS, humanitarian parole, undermining asylum laws, and canceling DACA for “dreamers.”
In fact, the current battle against DACA has not yet been resolved, but some 174 “dreamers” were deported between January and September 2025. On the other hand, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) ruled that having DACA does not automatically stop a deportation process. And delays in DACA renewal have left many unemployed and unprotected from possible detention and deportation.
In the past, Trump spoke of the need for farmers to rely on the labor of agricultural workers. There are an estimated 2.5 million agricultural workers in the United States, 70% are immigrants, and approximately Forty five% are undocumented.
But Trump’s own detention and deportation machinery has left those farmers without their labor.
La Opinión reported that “if President Trump wanted to promote the regularization of immigrants through Congress, the only bipartisan project is the so-called Dignity Law, presented by Representative María Elvira Salazar (Florida).” “The project, however, has not managed to advance in Congress,” the newspaper added.
ICE and CBP continue to fill their coffers with millions of dollars for detentions and deportations
La Opinión reported that “the Senate Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, led by Republicans, published their legislative proposal for the Peace Reconciliation bill. $72 billion to fund ICE and CBP through 2029”.
This strategy allows Republicans to approve measures with a simple majority and not with the 60 votes that overcome a blockade, which means that they do not require the support of Democrats who demand changes in the way immigration agents are conducted. They also demand safeguards that guarantee accountability on the part of agents who until now act with total impunity.
La Opinion broke down the funds: $38.2 billion for ICE; $26.1 billion for CBP; $5 billion for deportations;
$1.5 billion for Justice Department lawsuits; and no less than $1 billion for Trump’s new White House ballroom.
But there are no funds to monitor abuses against immigrants
The Opinion indicated that “the Office of the Ombudsman for Immigrant Detention (OIDO) has been closed, eliminating an independent mechanism for migrants to report misconduct, excessive use of force, and violations of their rights” in ICE and CBP detention centers. The office only had 5 employees, a reduction of 96% of its staff, the newspaper explained.
The closure occurs at a crucial time due to the rise in reports of abuse in detention centers as well as the increase in deaths in federal custody.
Latinos would be the most affected if birthright citizenship is eliminated
The Brennan Center for Justice analyzed the ‘friend of the court’ briefs in the case of the elimination of birthright citizenship pending before the Supreme Court, and concluded that Latinos would be the sector most affected by such public policy.
“A study that appears in the writings revealed that, in the short term, Latino communities would end up accounting for nearly 80 percent of all ‘unauthorized births’that is, births to undocumented parents.”
It would create “what LatinoJustice PRLDEF and 22 other groups have described as a “racialized immigration system,” where Latinos would largely be relegated to a lower social class due to their lack of citizenship. Without citizenship, these children would not be able to enjoy fundamental legal rights and protections, such as protections against deportation, guarantees that become especially important as the Trump administration accelerates and intensifies its aggressive attempts to deport non-white people. citizens.”
“They would also be unable to receive the benefits of numerous federal and state programs and services, according to a brief filed by a group of local governments and leaders. For example, they would not be able to participate in federal health insurance programs such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).”
“They haven’t seen anything yet… Massive deportations are coming,” declared border czar Tom Homan while reporting, according to La Opinión, “that some 7,000 new agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) have already begun to be deployed in nearly 40 states and that another 3,000 are in training.”
