Homan – a former police officer and former acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) – described immigration at the US border as “the greatest national security vulnerability this country has seen since 9/11 and we need to do something about it.”

Addressing illegal immigrants in the United States at the Republican National Convention this summer, he said: “You better start packing your bags now.” »

But it is not yet clear how his role as “border czar” will take shape, because managing immigration involves coordination between several government agencies.

He did, however, offer some ideas on how he would approach the border.

In October, before Trump’s election, he told CBS’s 60 Minutes that he would handle deportations by prioritizing “threats to public safety” and “threats to national security.” before moving on to non-criminal migrants who are in the country illegally.

Such an approach would reverse Biden administration policies that direct Ice to focus on deporting serious criminals, national security threats and recent border crossings. Biden’s current policy helps protect undocumented immigrants who live in the United States and have not committed crimes.

Asked how the evictions would be carried out, Homan said in the same October interview: “It’s not going to be a massive sweep of neighborhoods. It’s not going to be about building concentration camps. J I read it all. It’s ridiculous.”

“These will be targeted arrests. We will know who we are going to arrest, where we are most likely to find them, through numerous investigative processes,” he added.