Trump “border czar” Tom Homan to visit border with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Tom Homan, selected by President-elect Donald Trump to be the “border czar” in the new administration, is traveling Tuesday to the U.S.-Mexico border with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Abbott’s office said. 

Homan and Abbott will be serving meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers who are stationed at Eagle Pass and Edinburg over Thanksgiving, Abbott’s office said. They are stationed there as part of Operation Lone Star, a border mission Abbott launched in March 2021 — alleging insufficient support from the Biden administration to combat the flow of immigration along the Texas-Mexico border. 

Abbott has touted the border mission — which deployed thousands of police and soldiers and miles of barriers — as a success, despite testimony before a GOP-led Texas Senate panel earlier this year about low morale among troops, humanitarian concerns and ballooning costs. Additionally, the Biden Department of Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union have sued Texas, arguing the law interferes with the federal government’s authority over immigration.

Abbott told “60 Minutes” earlier this year that Texas is “enforcing the laws that are the policy of the United States Congress” with Operation Lone Star. 

Earlier this month, Trump announced Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in his first term, would be the new administration’s “border czar.” Trump vowed on the campaign trail to undertake the largest deportation program in history, which would likely be overseen by Homan.

Speaking on “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday morning, Homan said he and Abbott are “already planning” and “not waiting until Jan. 20,” which is Inauguration Day, although he did not elaborate what they could do before Trump takes office. He outlined last month some of how he plans to carry out the deportations to “60 Minutes,” saying it will be “targeted arrests,” although he said there would not be a “mass sweep of neighborhoods.”

Homan and Abbott appeared on Fox News on Monday night, with Homan saying they’re “going to enforce the law period, and they’re not going to stop us,” referring to mayors of cities who said they would not enforce deportations. 

Homan was the architect of the first Trump White House’s “zero tolerance” policy toward immigration. He was one of three officials who signed a policy memo that then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen approved to greenlight family separations. 

Internal Customs and Border Protection figures obtained by CBS News show that the number of illegal border crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border are on track to drop to a new low for the Biden administration in November. The last time illegal border crossings were lower was in the summer of 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Camilo Montoya-Galvez

contributed to this report.