Trump selects immigration enforcers for key administration roles

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump reportedly plans to name North Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary, in a trio of moves that advance a hard-line approach to immigration, including mass deportation and aggressive action against drug cartels.

Trump had announced Tom Homan, a former immigration official in the first Trump administration, would be in a role the next president called “The Border Czar.”

“I’ve known Tom for a long time, and there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders,” Trump posted late Sunday on social media. “Likewise, Tom Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin.”

And Trump reportedly has picked Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, as deputy White House chief of staff for policy. Vice President-elect JD Vance on social media called the choice “another fantastic pick by the president.”

The Noem pick was reported by The Washington Post, CNN and Fox News. The Miller selection has been reported by The Washington Post and other media. Noem’s appointment would have to be confirmed by the Senate, while Homan and Miller positions would not.

Noem stands out among the choices because as governor of South Dakota she hasn’t had a role with an immigration focus, or even served as chief executive of a state along the border. Nonetheless, Noem has been a voice for tough-on-immigration policy consistent with Trump’s approach on the campaign trail.

On the eve of Election Day, Noem sounded the alarm at a Trump campaign event in Michigan about the border policies of the Biden administration and the potential continuation of that approach under the presidency of Kamala Harris, according to a report in Michigan Advance.

“Kamala Harris has allowed 13,000 murderers into this country, 16,000 rapists into this country just by facilitating that open border,” Noem was quoted as saying. “Just think about your county and how small that is in your community of people that you have four more murderers living right there in your community, that’s the average across this country.”

In February, Noem convened a joint session of the South Dakota state Legislature to deliver a speech on immigration, promising to send material and personnel assistance to border states, including razor wire for use on barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“The United States of America is at a time of invasion,” Noem said at the time. “The invasion is coming over our southern border. The 50 states have a common enemy, and that enemy is the Mexican drug cartels. They are waging war against our nation, and these cartels are perpetuating violence in each of our states, even right here in South Dakota.”

The other two choices of Miller and Homan have well-established reputations for tough -on-immigration approaches, including their work in lead roles under Trump’s first term in office.

Homan gained a reputation as a fierce defender of Trump’s immigration policies as acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as evidenced by fiery exchanges with members of Congress, including an exchange now widely circulated online in which he fended off tough questioning from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday morning, Homan said Trump’s approach would be “really the same as during the first administration, except a hell of a lot more of them, because 10 million people entered this country illegally under the Biden administration.”

Homan said the scheme for mass deportation would be “public safety threats and national security threats” as the top priority for removal, which he suggested would include migrants who were ordered for deportation by immigration judges but remained in the United States.

Homan said worksite raids “have to happen,” alleging they are a major source of sex trafficking and forced labor trafficking.

“The Biden administration shut down worksite sites at one point to say we care about sex trafficking and human trafficking, then they shut down worksite enforcement, which is one of the main areas we find the victims of this,” Homan said.

Homan identified as another priority more than 300,000 children he said came across as migrants and “smuggled into this country by criminal cartels that can’t find,” with many in forced labor or sex trafficking.

Miller is credited with being a major architect of Trump’s immigration policy in Trump’s first term, including the widely criticized policy of family separation as a punitive measure for crossing the border. Since that time, he has led America First Legal, a legal firm that undertakes cases consistent with the conservative views, including claims of anti-white racism and overblown claims of noncitizens voting in U.S. elections.

During a high-profile rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the final days before the 2024 election, Miller articulated his vision for immigration policy under Trump’s second term, according to a report in ABC News.

“Who is going to stand up and say the cartels are gone, the criminal migrants are gone, the gangs are gone,” Miller was quoted as saying. “America is for Americans and Americans only.”