Notably, Homan was one of the architects behind its controversial family separation policy. More than 5,500 children of immigrants were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2018 under the administration’s short-lived “Zero Tolerance” policy. According to the Department of Homeland Security, as of April, there were still 1,401 children without confirmed reunification.
Trump signed an executive order stopping family separations in June 2018 after much condemnation from lawmakers and the public, and the Biden administration officially rescinded it days after President Biden took office in 2021.
Homan retired in frustration in 2018 when the White House failed to move his nomination toward Senate confirmation, according to the Washington Post. He became a Fox News contributor, joined the conservative Heritage Foundation as a visiting fellow and contributed to Project 2025, its controversial blueprint for reshaping the federal government.
Trump had sought to distance himself from Project 2025 during his campaign, even though it overlaps with his own agenda. Trump made immigration a major part of his campaign and has vowed to deport millions of immigrants who are in the country without authorization.
Homan has warned undocumented immigrants to ‘start packing’
Homan spoke about how such deportations would work in an interview on Fox Sunday Morning Futures hours before his appointment was announced, saying it would be a “well-targeted, planned operation, conducted … by the men of ICE.”
“When we go out there we’re gonna know who we’re looking for, we most likely know where they’re going to be and it’s gonna be done in a humane manner,” Homan said, adding that it will focus on the “public safety threats and the national security threats first.”