A law enforcement association comprised of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees is backing the choices of President-elect Donald Trump to head his immigration team next year as it aims to launch an ambitious mass deportation plan — with the group stating ICE officers and agents are “fired up.”
In a statement, the Executive Board of the National ICE Officers Association said it offers its “strong support” for South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem’s nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security and former acting ICE Director Thomas Homan’s appointment as border czar.
“Former Director Homan is one of us and knows exactly what it takes to do the job and make our communities safe,” said the statement.
The group is a law enforcement association newly established for ICE members who serve in the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) branch. It was established this year and is seeking to become the agency’s exclusive union.
Similarly, the group praised the selection of Noem as the Department of Homeland Security nominee.
“As one of America’s toughest governors and someone who has kept her citizens safe, we have complete and total confidence that Gov. Noem will bring about the changes we desperately need to do our jobs and protect the American people,” says the group. “The men and women of ICE ERO are fired up and ready to go get to work.”
ICE will be spotlighted next year as the Trump administration moves to increase deportations of illegal immigrants across the United States. The transition team has already been eyeing a substantial expansion of detention in order to facilitate the operation, with expanded detention capacity and an increase in beds near major metropolitan areas.
Those efforts are already drawing substantial opposition from Dem officials in some states. The governors of Massachusetts, Illinois, and Arizona have said they wouldn’t assist the administration in the operation. But some GOP states have offered support, with Texas offering over 1,400 acres of land to conduct mass deportations near the border.
Last week, it was reported that an announcement of who President-elect Donald Trump will choose to lead ICE is imminently expected. The transition team is said to be looking for someone with a deep background in law enforcement to lead the agency.
Homan said he’s “honored” to be tapped as Trump’s “border czar”
Former ICE acting Director Tom Homan is “honored” to be chosen as the “border czar” for the incoming second Trump administration, and he’s prepared to do whatever it takes to get the crisis under control.
“I’ve been on this network for years complaining about what this administration did to this border. I’ve been yelling and screaming about it and what they need to do to fix it. So, when the president asked me, ‘Would you come back and fix it?’ Of course. I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t. I’m honored the president asked me to come back and help solve this national security crisis, so I’m looking forward to it,” he said Monday to “Fox & Friends” in his first interview since being tapped for the role.
“I think the calling is clear,” continued Homan, “I’ve got to go back and help because every morning… I’m pissed off with what this [Biden] administration did to the most secure border in my lifetime, so I’m going to go back and do what I can to fix it.”
