Thomas Homan, President-elect Donald Trump’s new “border czar” with broad powers to implement the incoming administration’s restrictive immigration policies, made clear this summer what a Trump victory could mean for immigration policy.
“As a guy who spent thirty-four years deporting illegal aliens, I got a message to the millions of illegal aliens that Joe Biden let into this country in violation of federal law,” Homan, former acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said in a speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. “You better start packing now.”
Homan indicated that a new hard line on immigration could include raids on workplaces, hospitals and areas where undocumented people gather. Trump has also named immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as a deputy chief of staff.
Immigration advocates and activists in New Jersey were quick to mobilize with a demonstration in Jersey City at the weekend, where both fear and defiance were apparent.
“I think the fear is, yes, what’s to come from the Trump administration but also a fear that our leaders may not be willing to stand up and defend the state,” said Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.
But Torres said she was heartened by the presence at the demonstration of law enforcement officials like the state Attorney General Matt Platkin and political leaders like Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
“Of all the states, nobody bosses New Jersey around, and so I think there’s a real opportunity here to demonstrate leadership, especially as we head into our state elections in 2025,” Torres added.
Baraka warned the crowd at Saturday’s rally of difficult times ahead, for all residents.
“It means that they want to get rid of everyone, not just people who broke laws. Your presence here, in their minds, is breaking the law. If you don’t understand that, then we’re confused and we have to make sure that everybody understands that we are all in danger,” he said.
“The weakening of sanctuary cities is going to create an extremely difficult and hostile atmosphere that will also be consistent with President Trump’s agenda to make conditions of employment and living so hostile that people will self-deport,” said Leena Khandwala, managing attorney for the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative at Rutgers Law School’s Immigration Rights Clinic.
