Trump’s ‘border czar’ to blue states: Embrace mass deportation or else

Tom Homan

Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s pick to serve as his “border czar,” told Fox News on Sunday that he backs cutting federal funding to states who do not want to help the incoming administration execute a policy of mass deportation.

Homan made the statement while appearing on “Life, Liberty & Levin” during a discussion with conservative host Mark Levin. Levin suggested to Homan that an effective strategy to force compliance with the deportation plans would be cutting off federal funding until states buckle to the pressure. 

“That’s going to happen, I guarantee it, President Trump will do that,” Homan said in agreement.

He went on to cite the case of Laken Riley, a Georgia woman who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant, as the reason why a mass deportation policy has to be pursued. But studies have shown that undocumented immigrants commit crime at a lower rate than people born in the United States, despite the conservative habit of invoking crime to justify harsh anti-immigrant policies.

Since Trump won the election, several Democratic leaders have said they will not go along with mass deportation plans, but it’s also key for them to have legal safeguards in place

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey told MSNBC, “The key here is that every tool in the toolbox is going to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents and protect our states, and certainly to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law as a basic principle.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, said, “You come for my people, you come through me.”

Some of the Democratic-led states that Homan is threatening are in fact some of the biggest contributors to the federal government in the form of taxes.

In addition to the chaos a mass deportation plan is highly likely to cause, a recent analysis from Axios determined that the already backlogged immigration court system would get even worse. Current cases take approximately four years to resolve, but with a new influx of cases, that could increase to sixteen years. At the same time, the incoming Republican-led majorities in Congress have said they plan to cut the size of the government, reducing the capacity to deal with issues like immigration.

Related story: Trump’s deportation thug threatens to flood LA with his goons

Trump presided over several immigration failures during his first term, including the border wall that Mexico did not pay for that had sections fall apart from wind, as well as the family separation policy—in part overseen by Homan. That policy led to international condemnation and family trauma.

Mass deportation already is likely to cause more havoc, and now the public at large would suffer as a result if funds are cut.