After nearly four years of relaxing immigration policies that have seen record numbers of migrants enter the United States, morale among border officials has increased following the election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has made border security one of the pillars of his campaign. It seems there is.
In addition to fortifying the southern border, President Trump has promised to order mass deportations of illegal immigrants. On Monday, he named Tom Homan, the former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), as the second administration's “border czar.”
Homan, who is widely respected within the Border Patrol and ICE, said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” that he intends to solve the border crisis caused by the Biden administration's policies.
Former ice cream director says mass deportation is possible without separating families if “deported together''
Migrants walk along a highway through Suchiate, Mexico, on their way north toward the U.S. border on July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)
“I've been on this network for years complaining about what this administration has done to this border,” he said. “I've been screaming and screaming about it and what they need to do to fix it. So the president said to me, 'Can you come back and fix it? ” Of course, I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t. ”
According to the State Department, the number of people crossing the border illegally has skyrocketed under President Biden, reaching nearly 3 million people in fiscal 2024. Department of Homeland Security website. Since 2021, illegal encounters have exceeded 10.8 million.
Homan said he supports President Trump's mass deportation plan, saying it would prioritize “public safety threats and national security threats.” In a recent interview on CBS's “60 Minutes,” when asked whether mass deportations would lead to family separation, Homan replied, “Families could be deported together.”
U.S. Border Patrol agents and ICE officials told Fox News that change is like night and day.
Trump nominates former Glacier chief Tom Homan to be next 'Border Patrol': There is no better person for border security.
Morale among border officials has increased following the election of President-elect Trump. (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)
“We have a total of 180 people. Our force is feeling like the sun is finally coming out after a very long storm,” said one Massachusetts ICE official. “People are so eager to get support. It's amazing because we all felt so numb. We didn't realize how bad it was until we finally had hope again. I don't think so. Everyone is very happy to have Homan back.”
“Morale was really high, especially with the news about Homan,” said another ICE official in New York.
“I'm so excited to go to work! My morale is even higher than when I won my first victory,” said an Arizona Border Patrol agent.
“Morale is off the charts,” Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said in an interview. “We received hundreds of calls, texts and emails from agents telling us how happy they were.”
Former President Trump speaks about immigration and border security near Coronado National Monument in Montezuma Pass, Arizona, on August 22, 2024. (Olivier Toulon/AFP via Getty Images)
“There are a lot of agents who originally said they would retire if President Trump didn't win, and now those same agents are saying they're putting their retirement on hold because they want to serve under this administration again. “I know exactly what the administration was like, and I know this administration will be even better,” he said.
“We've all had hope, but a feeling of resignation is still creeping in,” said a California border patrol official. “Until Tom Homan takes the leash off us, nothing will change.”
A Border Patrol agent in Texas told Fox News: “The people who were supposed to retire are not retiring and everyone is happy.”
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“People feel like they know they're going to be able to do the work that they signed up for and that they want to do,” said an ICE official. “They know they can get the bad guys right now. Public safety threats, national security threats, gang members, here they come.”
Other officials contacted said they hope there will no longer be a need to use politically correct terms such as “noncitizens” to describe illegal immigrants.
Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
