In Context: Tom Homan’s comments that ‘families can be deported together’

Until President-elect Donald Trump announced Tom Homan as his incoming "border czar," Homan was perhaps best known for his association with a controversial policy that led to children’s separation from their families.

Homan was Trump’s acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2017 and 2018, when the administration enacted the zero-tolerance policy that resulted in children being taken from their parents during illegal border crossings.

Homan, who aims to help Trump deliver on his campaign promise to deport migrants on a large scale, defended the policy in an October "60 Minutes" interview, characterizing it as an effective deterrent and a way to "save lives." He also explained how mass deportation could operate in a second Trump term.

"Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?" correspondent Cecilia Vega asked him.

"Of course there is," Homan answered, "families can be deported together."

A day after Homan’s Nov. 10 selection, a host on ABC’s "The View" claimed those "60 Minutes" comments showed Homan had called for deporting citizens whose parents or spouses are living in the country illegally.

"It’s chilling what he just said," co-host Ana Navarro said. "You realize that when he says, ‘Yes, families can be deported together,’ what he is saying is that U.S. citizens can be deported. What he is saying is if the parent is undocumented and they have U.S. citizen children or U.S. citizen spouse, and you don’t want to separate them, then let’s deport the U.S. citizens."

Is that what he was saying? 

The U.S. Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship, meaning anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen, whatever their parents’ citizenship status. About 4.4 million U.S.-born children live with at least one parent who is not in the country legally, according to Pew Research. Eligible foreign-born immigrants can also become U.S. citizens through naturalization.

We looked at Homan’s comments in context, and what they may mean for people in mixed-status families, with both U.S. citizens and people without legal status.

When an NBC reporter asked Trump in August whether his deportation plans would include separating families, Trump said his administration would make provisions for families in the country illegally with U.S. citizen children, but he did not elaborate on what those will be.

"Provisions will be made, but we have to get the criminals out," Trump replied during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. 

In an October statement to Newsweek, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, "Like President Trump said, he will make provisions for mixed-status families, and he will restore his effective immigration policies." 

Homan’s Oct. 27 "60 Minutes" interview aired before Trump tapped Homan as border czar. In it, Homan defended Trump’s campaign trail calls for a mass deportation operation. Vega pressed Homan on the cost and logistics of deporting millions of immigrants in the country illegally. Here’s a portion of that interview: 

Vega: "What would the largest deportation in American history look like to you?" 

Homan: "Well, let me tell you what's not going to be first. It's not going to be a mass sweep of neighborhoods. It's not going to be building concentration camps. I've read it all. It's ridiculous." 

Vega: "But if mass deportation is not going to be, as you said, massive sweeps and concentration camps, what is it?" 

Homan: "There’ll be targeted arrests. We’ll know who we’re going to arrest, where we’re most likely to find them based on numerous investigative processes."

Later in the interview, Vega asked Homan whether mass deportations could happen without separating families. Her question did not specifically mention families in which some children are U.S. citizens, but other portions of the "60 Minutes" segment focused on the outlook for mixed-status families. 

Here is that exchange:  

Vega: "We have seen one estimate that says it would cost $88 billion to deport a million people a year." 

Homan: "I don't know if that's accurate or not." 

Vega: "Is that what American taxpayers should expect?" 

Homan: "What price do you put on National Security? Is that worth it?" 

Vega: "Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?" 

Homan: "Of course there is. Families can be deported together."

Later in the interview, Vega pressed Homan on the prospect of U.S. citizen children leaving the country when their noncitizen parents are deported: 

Vega: "Why should a child who is an American citizen have to pack up and move to a country that they don’t know?"

Homan: "Because their parent absolutely entered the country illegally, had a child knowing he was in the country illegally, so he created that crisis."

In a Nov. 11 appearance with Fox News host Sean Hannity a day after Trump announced Homan’s selection in his administration, Homan denied that the incoming Trump administration would deport U.S. citizens. Hannity asked Homan whether he plans to deport U.S. citizens. Homan said:

"Exactly not. Look, ‘The View’ is like the island of misfit toys. They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. President Trump has made it clear. We will prioritize public safety threats and national security threats first, and that’s where the focus will be."

Although Homan said the Trump administration would prioritize people who have committed crimes after entering the country illegally, he said any immigrant in the U.S. illegally could be deported: 

"If you’re in the country illegally, you shouldn’t feel comfortable, absolutely not. I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I'm in the country illegally. If I’m in — If I'm in some other country illegally, I'm not going to be comfortable. You shouldn't be comfortable either because when you enter this country illegally, you have committed a crime. You are a criminal, and you're not off the table." 

Crossing the U.S. border illegally is a criminal violation; being in the U.S. without legal authorization (staying in the U.S. after a visa expires, for example) is a civil, not criminal offense.

Hannity asked Homan whether Trump’s administration would provide a grace period during which people in the country illegally who haven’t committed crimes could leave the country voluntarily. Homan did not specifically mention mixed-status families, but said families could leave the country "together":

"For those others, the noncriminals, if you want to self-deport, I’m all for it. Because when they self-report, they can put their orders, everything in order, their family business. If they’ve got homes or whatever they can put all that in order and leave with their family all together. It makes perfect sense."