SyneJan 22, 2026 06:38 PM (This post was last modified: Jan 22, 2026 06:41 PM by Syne.)
Prior presidents had the benefit of states and cities respecting ICE detainers and turning illegals over without ICE having to track them down.
You know, on top of not having to fight through protestors to do their job.
While his rhetoric emphasized mass deportation, his annual removal numbers were lower than Obama's peak years, partly due to reduced cooperation from some local jurisdictions and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Google AI
#Obama administration: Homan was appointed by President Barack Obama as Immigration and Customs Enforcement's executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations in 2013.
By 2014, under the Obama administration, Homan began to argue that separating children from their caregivers would be an effective way to discourage illegal border crossings. The journalist Caitlin Dickerson has called him the "intellectual father" of the policy, which he outlined years before the Trump administration adopted it. "Most parents don't want to be separated", Homan told Dickerson. He argued that this makes separation an effective tool for immigration enforcement: "I'd be lying to you if I didn't think that would have an effect.
In 2015, Obama awarded him a Presidential Rank Award as a Distinguished Executive. The Washington Post wrote, "Thomas Homan deports people. And he's really good at it."