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By Dan Gooding and Shane Croucher
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White House border czar Tom Homan warned back in June that ongoing public support for President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration was conditional on prioritizing those whose criminal behavior went beyond unlawful entry into the country.
Homan's prescience is seen in Trump's sliding polling numbers on immigration policy, once a major strength for the president and a major campaign talking point that helped deliver him the White House for a second time. Support for Trump's immigration agenda has fallen as the aggressive tactics of federal immigration officers and deaths of U.S. citizens have made headlines, fueling bipartisan criticism.
“I think the vast majority of the American people think criminal illegal aliens naseed to leave. And if we stick to that prioritization, I think we keep the faith of the American people,” Homan said in an interview back in June, but only made public on Monday by NBC News, for the forthcoming book “Undue Process: The Inside Story of Trump’s Mass Deportation Program".
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“And I think the more we do that, the more the American people will support what President Trump’s doing. We got to do it and we’ve got to do it in a humane manner.”
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for comment via email Monday morning.
Why It Matters
Homan made the comments on June 16, 2025, around the time Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino was sending his agents in to conduct mass raids across Los Angeles. Trump, at the end of January, sent Homan into Minnesota to take over immigration enforcement operations in the city from Bovino after weeks of chaos and deadly clashes with protesters in the state.
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What To Know
The apparent warning from Homan last summer adds to seemingly conflicting statements and practices by the Trump administration when it comes to immigration enforcement.
Homan, who worked within ICE for decades, had vowed to crack down on illegal immigration during the 2024 election campaign and complained that former President Joe Biden was too soft on the issue, leading to a surge in illegal crossings at the southwest border.
Over the past year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has conducted sweeping enforcement operations in largely Democrat-led cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis. Those operations have been met with resistance from local leaders and residents, with protesters clashing with federal agents over the arrests of immigrants, some legal, some illegal, without criminal records.
Homan's comments came as arrests of immigrants who had sought asylum or had used programs such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) became more common last summer.
“I think the more stories like that, people are going to question what we’re doing more,” Homan said.
Trump has seen a mixed response overall to his immigration crackdown, with voters often saying they support him in deporting immigrant criminals, while also showing concern over the administration's methods, particularly in recent months.
In late January, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 39 percent of Americans approved of the job Trump was doing on immigration and 53 percent disapproved. A February poll from Quinnipiac also revealed a similar split.
Other recent polling has shown a rise in the number of Americans feeling that immigrants have a positive impact on the U.S.
At the same time, the message from the White House has remained steady: that ICE and other federal agents will continue to enforce immigration laws and that operations are targeted, not sweeping.
What People Are Saying
Matt Wylie, a Republican strategist who founded Freedom Project USA, told Newsweek on Monday: "Homan’s approach was tough, but it was disciplined — and that’s what Americans thought they were voting for. Most Americans want secure borders. They support deporting violent criminals, gang members, and drug traffickers. Many would even say if you were here illegally and you get caught breaking the law — even if it’s non-violent — you go home. If that had been the focus — if they had followed Homan’s playbook — immigration would be a strength right now.
"Instead, Noem and Bovino took the strongest issue Republicans have had in a generation and made it toxic. Yes, they may have removed some criminals but replaced them with men in masks and body armor. They replaced gang violence with government force."
A DHS spokesperson, said to NBC: “As Border Czar Homan and Secretary Noem have both said numerous times, ICE conducts targeted operations to remove public safety threats from this country — any individual illegally in that country is on the table. There is only one page: the President’s page. Everyone’s on the same page."
D. Stephen Voss, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky, previously told Newsweek: "Public opinion is inconsistent and unrealistic. Just as poll respondents will call for lower taxes without being willing to cut spending on any expensive programs, they'll demand stricter immigration enforcement without being willing to support the sorts of policies needed to give teeth to immigration laws. The Trump Administration is operating as though their victory over Biden/Harris furnished them with a policy mandate to crack down on immigration, and they're learning the hard way that the public wasn't actually OK with what that sort of crackdown would entail."
What Happens Next
The Trump administration remains adamant that DHS will deliver on Trump's promise of mass deportations, while likely keeping an eye on public opinion as the November 2026 midterms loom.
Update 2/9/26, 11:07 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and comment.
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