Trump loudly campaigned on deporting all the undocumented immigrants in the US. Behind the scenes, he waffled. Nevertheless, to prove to the base that the new administration was full speed ahead, the word on the street was that on Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cops would swarm Chicago. Now Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, suggests that the operation is likely a no-go.
This weekend, he talked with the Washington Post. WaPo reported on the conversation in an article titled (the paywall should be down):
Trump officials haven’t decided on post-inauguration Chicago raids, Homan says
“Border czar” Tom Homan said the incoming administration is reconsidering plans for an immigration enforcement blitz in Chicago next week after preliminary details leaked.
The article starts by fleshing out the headline:
President-elect Donald Trump’s handpicked “border czar” Tom Homan said in an interview Saturday that the incoming administration is reconsidering whether to launch immigration raids in Chicago next week after preliminary details leaked out in news reports.
Homan, the former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Washington Post that the new administration “hasn’t made a decision yet.”
“We’re looking at this leak and will make a decision based on this leak,” Homan said. “It’s unfortunate because anyone leaking law enforcement operations puts officers at greater risk.”
If the reader suspects there is more to this indecisiveness than meets the eye, they are probably onto something. I doubt a general statement that there will be raids in Chicago puts law enforcement at greater risk. I doubt criminals will eschew violence because a raid was unexpected. Homan’s hemming and hawing more likely springs from the realization that ICE is unprepared to do what it boasts it can do — despite the distracting chest-thumping.
So far Trump´s fascist intent has not achieved in practice what he promised in theory. After all, some sections of his vaunted border wall — more accurately, a border fence — fell over. Others could be defeated by tools available at Home Depot.
As for the news getting out, Homan should not be surprised. All administrations leak. The first Trump term was no exception, and the second one will be the same. What is different now is we know the source. Usually, we have no idea who the leakers are. However, this time we have clues. Ironically, they point to Homan himself as the leaker.
Not that Homan sees it that way. He certainly won´t admit to the lapse. The article goes on:
Homan said he did not know why Chicago “became a focus of attention” and said the incoming administration’s enforcement goals are much broader than one city.
“ICE will start arresting public safety threats and national security threats on day one,” he said. “We’ll be arresting people across the country, uninhibited by any prior administration guidelines. Why Chicago was mentioned specifically, I don’t know.”
“This is nationwide thing,” he added. “We’re not sweeping neighborhoods. We have a targeted enforcement plan.”
However, the WaPo report shed some light on why people suspected Chicago. It seems Homan´s loose lips led to the disclosure. The reports revealed:
The Wall Street Journal, which was first to report on the possible raid, wrote that Homan said at a holiday party last month in Chicago that the administration would start raids “right here” and threatened to prosecute Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) for harboring undocumented immigrants if he got in the way.
Holiday party? Does the blabbermouth Homan have an alcohol issue? It would be another irony if the teetotaling Trump hires dipsomaniacs — not just Pete Hegseth. But I don’t want to start rumors. So I won’t say more on the subject. Except to add that Trump’s commitment to his deportation policy has the credibility of a barfly’s declaration that he's OK to drive.
Homan may have adopted the expedient excuse that he will not be able to perform his job because of un-American, Trump-hating gossips. But the blustering bloviator should look in the mirror if he wants to discover a key flaw in his organization.
