During remarks this week, #Trump said he wanted to “pay tribute” to a person he very much respected.
Trump thanked #TomHoman, who served as acting director of #ICE during Trump’s admin [Trump loved “acting” posts bc they aren’t subject to congressional confirmation] & has since been a frequent commentator on #FauxNews.
#TomHoman now heads #Border911, a nonprofit that warns of the supposed threat posed by undocumented immigrants.
On Thurs, #Trump is set to see him at a Mar-a-Lago gala hosted by #Border911. …The gathering will also include #MattWhitaker, who served as chief of staff at the #DOJ when it implemented #ZeroTolerance. Later, when Whitaker testified before Congress as *acting AG, he conceded there was NO PLAN to REUNITE FAMILIES.
#Trump’s open-armed association w/the group — & his intensifying focus on migrants & crime on the campaign trail — provide one of the clearest windows yet into a potential 2nd term & the hard-liners he might appoint to #DHS to enforce #immigration#law.
In campaign rallies & interviews w/ #Newsmax & #FauxNews, Trump has said he’d put #TomHoman & others back into a potential 2nd admin “to have great border security.”
…Another expected attendee Thurs night is #RodneyScott, who served as #BorderPatrol chief during Trump’s last yr in office & has defended #ZeroTolerance by arguing that it was effective in slowing down migration.…Scott explored the idea of placing buoys in the #RioGrande to deter migrants years before #Texas actually did it.
His campaign has also said #Trump would sign an EO on his 1st day “to stop federal agencies from granting automatic US #citizenship to #children of illegal aliens” & to stop “birth tourism.” He’d also prioritize blocking federal #grants to “#sanctuary cities.”
One policy Trump has not promised is a return to #ZeroTolerance aka #FamilySeparation.
…Still, Trump has declined to take a clear stance on the issue. When asked if he’d reinstate it during a CNN townhall in May, he didn’t answer directly.
“When you have that policy, people don’t come,” #Trump said. “If a #family hears that they’re going to be separated, they love their family, they don’t come.”
When pressed whether that meant he would reinstate it, he said: “When you say to a family that if you come, we’re going to break you up, they don’t come & we can’t afford to have any more.”
During a separate interview w/Univision in Nov 2023, he said: “We did #FamilySeparation. A lot of people didn’t come. It stopped people from coming.”
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