Thomas Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is one of the most dangerous men in America. But despite being nominated to his position more than five months ago, he has yet to be confirmed, and Senate Democrats are demanding some answers:
The nomination of Homan, who has been leading the immigration agency in an acting capacity since the beginning of Trump’s presidency, has stalled since it was officially submitted to the Senate on Nov. 14, 2017, with no confirmation hearing nor movement in the chamber.
Homan has projected a hard-line approach to immigration enforcement, including his declaration last year that immigrants “should be afraid” under the Trump administration if they entered the United States illegally.
Democratic senators said DHS needs to give more information to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee before the nomination can proceed, but the department has yet to do so. The fact that it took Trump nearly 10 months to officially nominate an ICE director was also “striking,” Democrats wrote, “given the priority this Administration claims to place on immigration enforcement.”
The delay is “striking,” considering tearing apart families for a living requires a moral depravity, lack of basic human decency, and an abundance of cruelness, but above all a loyalty to authoritarianism—all traits Homan has proudly exhibited since Donald Trump unleashed ICE.
Monday, Apr 30, 2018 · 6:32:09 PM +00:00 · Gabe Ortiz
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Homan will announce his resignation from ICE Monday:
Thomas Homan, the controversial acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, plans to retire and leave his post, three people familiar with his plans said.
The announcement was expected later Monday, they said. He is expected to leave the job in June.
Mr. Homan, a longtime officer with the agency, was nominated to the top post by President Donald Trump, but the Senate hasn’t acted on his confirmation. Mr. Homan had been planning to retire when he was asked to serve as acting director. In November, he was nominated to the post permanently.
ICE, part of the Homeland Security Department, is the agency responsible for deportations, and Mr. Homan made clear that virtually every undocumented immigrant living in the U.S. was subject to removal.
Under Mr. Homan, ICE increased total arrests significantly. At the same time, the proportion of people arrested who didn’t have criminal convictions on their records increased.
One person familiar with Mr. Homan’s reasoning said the prospect of a tough, partisan confirmation process persuaded him to leave the agency now. Another person said family considerations played a prominent role.
“He was already set to retire once. That was something they planned as a family and they put that on hold,” a senior ICE official said Monday.
The announcement was meant to coincide with receiving an award Monday evening from the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Foundation, this person said
Coincidence, just as Senate Democrats were asking for key documentation relating to his ongoing nomination? Either way, adios Felicia, if true.
While Homan claims ICE is picking up so-called “bad hombres” and others who pose a threat to public safety, Homan is the threat to public safety. Not only have his agents been picking up immigrant moms and dads with decades in the U.S. and no criminal record, but Homan himself has weaponized and politicized the agency to march lock-step alongside the administration’s racist war on immigrants and so-called “sanctuary cities.” From Roque Planas’ recent profile on Homan:
Homan’s unrelenting boosterism of Trump’s deportation agenda has some former colleagues saying they don’t recognize the man they see puffing his chest on Fox News. Having been plucked from retirement at the end of a long career, Homan bears little burden to preserve appearance of non-partisanship. His most confrontational comments ― particularly the threat to prosecute local officials who embrace sanctuary policies or his warning that unauthorized immigrants should be afraid ― have widely alienated Democrats and critics “on the left,” as Homan puts it. But some suspect Homan’s over-the-top public pronouncements don’t reflect his personal views as much as his desire to please a White House beset by infighting and historically high turnover.
“Homan would be a great mid-level functionary in any right-wing totalitarian government you can name,” one activist told told HuffPost. It shouldn’t be the job of the top chief of a federal immigration enforcement agency to make state television appearances merely to please a racist White House, but in this administration, it is, and Congress needs confirmation hearings to hear exactly how and where sweeping up immigrant moms with no criminal record fits into “Homeland Security”:
The letter was spearheaded by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the second-highest ranking Democrat on the committee, and signed by 17 other senators. They also questioned whether Homan’s acting appointment as the ICE head violates the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, arguing that it subsequently “raises serious questions about the legality of Mr. Homan’s actions as the acting head of ICE.”
“The absence of a Senate-confirmed head of ICE for more than a year hinders Congressional oversight and the efficient operation of the agency and is troubling in any circumstance,” the Democrats wrote. “Moreover, it is completely unacceptable at a time when the Trump Administration is making radical — and in some cases possibly illegal — changes in immigration enforcement policies and practices.”
"Thomas Homan deports people,” the Washington Post once said about Homan. “And he's really good at it.” Without permanent congressional approval, he continues to do it without any consideration to the communities he’s tearing apart. According to the Washington Post, “DHS did not directly address the Democratic request for documents in a response,” but did send this request:
“Due in part to Tom’s 34 years of experience as a law enforcement officer, passion and leadership, ICE officers and agents are doing their jobs with the full support of an administration for the first time in years,” DHS press secretary Tyler Houlton said. “Senate Democrats should be sending Tom Homan a thank-you letter for all that he and ICE have done to protect the safety of our communities across the country.”
How’s this for a thank you letter, guys: fuck you.