The Administration · Inside the White House
Tom Homan
White House border czar
A career immigration officer who ran ICE in Trump's first term and now directs the deportation campaign from the White House; he was sent to Minneapolis in January 2026 after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens.
Biography
Tom Homan was born on November 28, 1961, in West Carthage, New York, and holds criminal justice degrees from Jefferson Community College and SUNY Polytechnic Institute. 1 He became a police officer in his hometown in 1983 and joined the federal immigration service a year later, working for about three decades as a Border Patrol agent, investigator and supervisor. 1 In 2013 President Barack Obama's administration appointed him to run the arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that arrests and deports people, and he received a Presidential Rank Award in 2015. 1
Trump named Homan acting director of ICE on January 30, 2017, and nominated him for the permanent job that November, but he was never confirmed and retired in June 2018. 1 He then became a Fox News commentator, joined the Heritage Foundation in 2022 and contributed to its Project 2025 policy plan. 1 On November 10, 2024, Trump announced that Homan would return as border czar, a White House post that does not go through the Senate, and he started on January 20, 2025. 1
In the job Homan has been the public face of the deportation drive. In May 2025, as the White House set a goal of 3,000 arrests a day, he said arrests and removals had to increase. 7 In late January 2026, after federal agents in Minneapolis killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Trump put Homan in charge there in place of Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino and said some agents would leave the area. 6 4 Homan said in May 2026 that mistakes in Minneapolis had been corrected and that crackdowns on that scale would not be repeated, though large operations would continue. 4
Homan has also faced questions about his own conduct. In September 2025, MS NOW and other outlets reported that undercover FBI agents had recorded him accepting $50,000 in cash in September 2024, before he rejoined the government, and that the Justice Department under Trump closed the case. 2 3 The White House said he never took the money. 3 In June 2026 he defended conditions at a New Jersey detention center that the state's attorney general had sued over. 5 He was still giving interviews as border czar in October 2026 and is listed as holding the post in November. 8 1
In the job
The acts and events that have defined the post so far, oldest first.
After two planeloads of Venezuelans were flown to El Salvador despite a judge's order, Homan said deportations would continue regardless of what judges thought, according to Wikipedia's account. 1
Said on Fox News that immigration arrests and removals had to increase, as the White House set a goal of 3,000 arrests a day. 7
Told CBS News that things were not perfect in Minneapolis but had been corrected, that agents who break the law should be held accountable, and that roughly 800,000 deportations had been carried out since Trump returned to office. 4
After touring the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, said claims of poor conditions were not factual and that the 1,000-bed center held 706 people. He also said ICE would step up operations in New York. 5
In a CBS News interview, said he wished Renee Good were alive, as her family filed civil lawsuits over her killing by an ICE agent, and answered Republican criticism of ICE operations. 8
Disputes, and their side
What critics, courts or investigators have said, and the answer given. An allegation is not a finding.
MS NOW reported, citing an internal case summary and sources, that on September 20, 2024, hidden cameras recorded Homan accepting $50,000 in cash in Texas from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen seeking government contracts. He was a private citizen at the time. Investigators kept the case open to see what he did in office; Trump appointees closed it in 2025. No charge was filed. 2 3
Their side: The FBI director and deputy attorney general said they found no credible evidence of criminal wrongdoing. The White House press secretary said Homan never took the money and accused the FBI under Biden of trying to entrap him. Homan did not respond to MS NOW. 2 3
The Washington Post reported that Homan's financial disclosure showed consulting fees from GEO Group, a private prison company that holds immigration detainees for the government, in the two years before he joined the administration, according to Wikipedia's summary. 1
Their side: No public response found.
New Jersey's attorney general sued GEO Group on June 2, 2026 over the Delaney Hall detention center, alleging overcrowding, poor ventilation, inadequate medical care and the spread of disease; Democratic lawmakers said detainees had staged a hunger strike. 5
Their side: Homan said the allegations were not factual, that the center was well run and not overcrowded, and that they were being pushed by people who want to abolish ICE. The Department of Homeland Security denied there was a hunger strike. 5
Career
- Police officer, West Carthage, New York
- Border Patrol agent, investigator and supervisor in the federal immigration service
- Executive associate director of ICE for enforcement and removal operations
- Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Fox News commentator; Heritage Foundation fellow and Project 2025 contributor from 2022
- White House border czar
Our reporting
We have not yet published a story that names Tom Homan. When we do, it will appear here.
Sources for this file
- Wikipedia, Tom Homan, Nov. 13, 2026
- MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), Tom Homan was investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover FBI agents. Trump's DOJ shut it down., Sept. 20, 2025
- CNBC, White House denies Homan received $50k from undercover FBI agents, Sept. 22, 2025
- CBS News, Tom Homan: 'Things weren't perfect' in Minneapolis crackdown, but ICE not backing down on mass deportations, May 5, 2026
- CBS News, Homan denies substandard conditions at N.J. ICE detention center, says he ate there: 'The spaghetti was good', June 5, 2026
- The National News Desk (via WTVC), Stephen Miller admits CBP may have violated protocol in fatal Alex Pretti shooting, Jan. 28, 2026
- Fox News, Trump administration sets new goal of 3,000 illegal immigrant arrests daily, May 29, 2025
- CBS News, Tom Homan (topic page listing CBS interviews, including 'Tom Homan on Renee Good after ICE killing'), Oct. 3, 2026
File checked Nov. 13, 2026. Something wrong or out of date? Tell the desk.