Trump Announces Immigration Official Tom Homan as 'Border Czar'

(FILES) Tom Homan, former Acting Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement speaks to supporters of former US President Donald Trump during a rally at the Banks County Dragway on March 26, 2022 in Commerce, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Tom Homan, former Acting Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement speaks to supporters of former US President Donald Trump during a rally at the Banks County Dragway on March 26, 2022 in Commerce, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Announces Immigration Official Tom Homan as 'Border Czar'

(FILES) Tom Homan, former Acting Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement speaks to supporters of former US President Donald Trump during a rally at the Banks County Dragway on March 26, 2022 in Commerce, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Tom Homan, former Acting Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement speaks to supporters of former US President Donald Trump during a rally at the Banks County Dragway on March 26, 2022 in Commerce, Georgia. (Photo by Megan Varner / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump says that Tom Homan, his former acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, will serve as “border czar” in his incoming administration.
“I am pleased to announce that the Former ICE Director, and stalwart on Border Control, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump Administration, in charge of our Nation’s Borders," he wrote late Sunday on his Truth Social site.
Homan was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border and Trump’s pledge to launch the largest deportation operation in the country's history, The Association Press said.
In addition to overseeing the southern and northern borders and “maritime, and aviation security,” Trump said Homan “will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin,” a central part of his agenda.
He says he had “no doubt” Homan “will do a fantastic, and long awaited for, job.”
Such a role does not require Senate confirmation.
In an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Homan said the military would not be rounding up and arresting immigrants in the country illegally and that ICE would move to implement Trump's plans in a “humane manner.”
“It’s going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They’re good at it,” he said. “When we go out there, we’re going to know who we’re looking for. We most likely know where they’re going to be, and it’s going to be done in a humane manner."
Earlier this year at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, Homan expressed frustration at the news coverage of a mass deportation operation.
“Wait until 2025,” he said, adding that, while he thinks the government needed to prioritize national security threats, “no one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.”
He also said: “you’ve got my word. Trump comes back in January, I’ll be in his heels coming back, and I will run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”



Putin Discussed Syria Situation with Iran's Pezeshkian by Phone, Says Kremlin

Smoke rises as a member of the rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria November 29, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hasano/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Smoke rises as a member of the rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria November 29, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hasano/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Putin Discussed Syria Situation with Iran's Pezeshkian by Phone, Says Kremlin

Smoke rises as a member of the rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria November 29, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hasano/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Smoke rises as a member of the rebels led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham drives on a motorbike in al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria November 29, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hasano/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Russian President Vladimir Putin has discussed the escalating situation in Syria with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian by phone, the Kremlin said on Monday.

"The focus was on the escalating situation in the Syrian Arab Republic," the Kremlin statement said.

"Unconditional support was expressed for the actions of the legitimate authorities of Syria to restore constitutional order and to restore the political, economic and social stability of the Syrian state."

Pezeshkian said his country was ready for any cooperation with Russia to control the regional situation and help resolve the crisis in Syria, according to the Iranian government's website.

"We believe that the recent events are part of a dangerous plan by the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel) to disrupt the geopolitical landscape of the region in favor of Zionists, but this plan will fail thanks to the unity and cooperation of regional countries," Pezeshkian added.

Earlier, the Kremlin said Russia was continuing to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after his forces lost territory to opposition groups and would see what help was needed to stabilize the situation.

A statement from the Syrian Prime Minister's office on Monday said that Russian and Syrian aircraft were striking opposition-held positions in Aleppo's eastern countryside, killing and wounding dozens of fighters.

Russia, a staunch Assad ally, intervened militarily on his side against anti-government factions in 2015 in its biggest foray in the Middle East since the Soviet Union's collapse, and maintains an airbase and naval facility in Syria.

The Kremlin said on Friday it wanted the Syrian government to restore constitutional order as soon as possible and regarded the opposition attack as a violation of Syria's sovereignty.

Asked on Monday whether Russia planned to increase its support for Assad, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We continue to support Bashar Al-Assad. Contacts are continuing at the appropriate levels.

"We are analyzing the situation and a position will be formed on what is needed to stabilize the situation."

Russian military bloggers said on Sunday that Moscow has dismissed Sergei Kisel, the general in charge of its forces in Syria, and replaced him with Colonel General Alexander Chaiko.

There was no official confirmation from the Russian Defense Ministry of such a change.

Assad has vowed to crush the opposition fighters - a coalition of Türkiye-backed mainstream secular armed groups along with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The opposition seized control of all of Idlib province in recent days, the boldest assault for years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.

They also swept into the city of Aleppo, east of Idlib, on Friday night, forcing the army to redeploy.