President-elect Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan has privately told Republican lawmakers to temper their expectations for the incoming administration’s initial deportation operation, citing limited resources, according to multiple sources involved in the conversations.
While Trump’s allies have floated measures to detain and deport people residing in the US illegally, the plans largely depend on the resources and funds available to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which historically has had budget shortfalls.
“We are not having a discussion about 20 million (deportations). We are having a discussion about an order, and priority, and expectation,” GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, who was in one of the meetings with Homan, told CNN.
The discussions are part of a broader level-setting that is occurring among House Republicans, who are now coming to terms with the challenges of turning one of their key campaign promises into a reality. Republicans are also grappling with the harsh realization that most of their border overhaul measures are unlikely to be included in Trump’s massive agenda bill, given the strict rules around the reconciliation process that require proposals to either increase revenue or reduce spending, not change policy.
“Many members are only now beginning to understand that,” one GOP lawmaker told CNN.
Trump has vowed to launch the largest deportation operation in history, telling Time Magazine in December he believes there will be “probably 15 and maybe as many as 20 million” undocumented immigrants in the US by the time he takes office.
In recent meetings with House Republicans, Homan, a veteran of immigration enforcement, has outlined a tiered approach to Trump’s mass deportation pledge, according to lawmakers and sources involved in the discussions.
Homan and lawmakers are using current government funding levels to craft a plan that targets between 1 and 2 million undocumented immigrants who are eligible for removal as quickly as possible, according to multiple sources in the discussions. There are currently about 1.4 million people in the US with final immigration orders of removal.
“Homan has been telling some of the members that ‘Hey, if you want me to do all these things that you’re talking about, this costs money, and it’s not being done with the CR that’s in place now,” one GOP lawmaker told CNN, referring to the continuing budget resolution that simply extends the current level of DHS funding.
“President Trump will enlist every federal power and coordinate with state authorities to institute the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers in American history while simultaneously lowering costs for families. The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail, like deporting migrant criminals and restoring our economic greatness. He will deliver,” Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition team told CNN in a statement.
Another GOP lawmaker whose committee oversees the Department of Homeland Security budget told CNN that Homan is trying to work as fast as the confines of the system allow.
“His message is not code talk for, ‘Nothing is going to happen’ or, ‘We’re going to slow down’ or whatever. But it is a responsible policy approach to getting stuff done quickly, but also in the context of realistic evaluation of how to best get that done and fulfill the promises that the incoming administration has made,” GOP Rep. Mark Amodei told CNN.
Homan has repeatedly stressed that he remains focused on public safety and national security threats, but hasn’t ruled out that others who are in the US illegally but do not pose a safety threat could be swept up in deportations.
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Homan said he would need a minimum of 100,000 beds to detain undocumented immigrants — more than doubling the 40,000 detention beds ICE is currently funded for — and would require more ICE agents. The agency has around 6,000 immigration enforcement officers.
“It all depends on the funding I get from the Hill,” Homan said on CNN’s “The Source.” He wouldn’t specify how many undocumented immigrants he hopes to see deported by the end of Trump’s next four years in office.
Some Republicans told CNN they have gotten the funding message.
“He’s going to need money right away,” GOP Rep. Andy Biggs told CNN.
But many lawmakers are acknowledging that getting Homan the funding he would need to undertake an unprecedented deportation effort would be extremely challenging.
Republicans are trying to massively cut government spending across the board, yet all parties involved acknowledge that increasing deportations will cost significantly more than what the government has currently allocated.
According to an initial estimate by the American Immigration Council, deporting 1 million people per year would cost approximately $88 billion annually and $960 billion over a 10-year period. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 271,484 immigrants last fiscal year under President Joe Biden, marking the highest level of deportations since 2014, according to an annual report. Former President Barack Obama deported around 400,000 in one year, but a large number of those were people who had only recently crossed the border. Trump faces a steeper challenge in targeting those already in the country.
Yet with the next government funding deadline two months away, top House appropriators tell CNN they haven’t even been given top-line numbers to begin working with, making their ability to plan how to scale up funding for deportations that much more challenging.
“While there may be some private discussions going on, nobody is talking publicly right now about March 14. And it’s going to get here pretty soon. We’re right at two months away. We need to fund this government,” GOP Rep. Steve Womack, a senior House GOP appropriator, told CNN. “It will be unacceptable for us to blame our inaction that we just ran out of time.”
“It will cost a lot to deport,” Biggs told CNN. “But guess what? It will also save a lot. And it’ll be a net benefit.”
But despite all of the pitfalls ahead, Republicans know they have to start somewhere, and argue that once the deportations under Trump start, there is a serious likelihood that undocumented immigrants will self-deport. There is also an acknowledgment that Trump’s expected executive orders will do a lot to get the process of addressing deportations, closing down the border and overhauling the immigration system started. Republicans also say there is a serious need to address staffing at ICE and secure enough detention beds.
Groups of Republicans are scheduled to be at Mar-a-Lago this weekend to meet with Trump directly and are looking for direction and an honest conversation about what’s next.
GOP Rep. Clay Higgins, part of one of the groups expected to meet with Trump this weekend, said while Trump may see the challenges ahead, it’s not stopping him from aiming high.
“He says, ‘I understand the complications. Work through them. Make it happen. I want it done yesterday,’” Higgins said of Trump’s mindset.