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Molly Butler / Media Matters

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The Trump administration is planning on deporting millions and millions of immigrants. Fox News is pretending the focus will be much narrower.

“Border Czar” Tom Homan: “If you’re in the country illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder. The bottom line is: Every illegal alien is a criminal.”

Written by Charis Hoard, Torri Lonergan, Pete Tsipis & Chloe Simon

Published

Fox News is downplaying President-elect Donald Trump’s planned “mass deportations” by saying the effort will prioritize migrants with “criminal records.” But two of his top picks to oversee immigration policy have echoed what he and the vice president-elect have threatened: The deportations will include all undocumented immigrants in addition to migrants here legally and mixed-status families. 

Trump has announced that his former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, Tom Homan, will oversee immigration policy in his second administration and his former senior adviser Stephen Miller will serve as his deputy chief of staff on policy. Both Homan and Miller have expressed support for Trump’s plan to enact mass deportations of immigrants from the United States, with Miller recently proclaiming at a Trump rally that America is for “Americans only.” 

  • Tom Homan and Stephen Miller have experience enforcing draconian immigration policy for Trump and plan to further his agenda in the second term

    • Trump has pledged to deport all undocumented immigrants and legal immigrants as well. This policy could impact more than 22 million people who live in the country's 5.8 million mixed-status families, where one or more family members are undocumented. The mass deportations could also target the 530,000 people who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offered protections for  “young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, temporarily shielding them from deportation and providing them work authorization with possible renewal every two years.” [The Guardian 11/8/24; Pew Research Center, 7/22/24; Poynter, 11/13/24; Immigration Forum, 5/21/24; Media Matters, 11/15/24]
    • As part of his deportation agenda, Trump is expected to end an asylum parole program for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela which allowed “qualified nationals” to apply for temporary stay in the U.S. if they were sponsored by someone who had U.S. citizenship or legal status. Trump is also expected to begin his plans of mass deportation in his first 100 days in office, and he has backed calls for a “national emergency” plan to secure military resources to carry out the mass deportations. [Global Refuge, 10/23/24; Politico, 11/18/24; Newsweek, 11/18/24]
    • During a campaign rally, Vice President-elect JD Vance said, “Our message to illegal aliens is, ‘Pack your bags, because in four months you’re going home.’” Vance has also cast doubt on the status of legal migrants, calling thousands of Haitians who are in the United States legally “illegal aliens” and suggesting they will be deported under Trump. [YouTube, 10/17/24; Cleveland.com, 9/19/24]
    • Trump has named Tom Homan “border czar” for his second term. Homan served as acting director of ICE in the first Trump administration and is credited as the “intellectual father” of the Trump administration’s family separation policy; he has since stated that he didn’t “give a shit” about being sued due to the policy. Homan has long pushed anti-immigrant rhetoric and misinformation on Fox News, where he became a paid contributor in 2018. [NPR, 11/11/24; Media Matters, 6/14/19, 8/8/22, 10/11/23, 8/11/19; The Hill, 3/3/23]
    • Stephen Miller will be Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy in his upcoming administration. Miller served as a senior adviser to Trump during his first administration and was the architect of the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that led to thousands of immigrant children being separated from their families. Miller also advocated for separating immigrant families going through civil court proceedings, which would have added 25,000 more immigrant children to the 3,000 who were already separated. [NPR, 11/11/24; NBC News, 8/20/20; CNN, 11/11/24]

  • Fox News figures and guests have claimed Trump’s policy will primarily or initially focus on undocumented people with criminal backgrounds

    • Fox correspondent Griff Jenkins claimed that “border czar Tom Homan says the priority will be those with criminal records.” However, Jenkins also noted that “Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Nanette Barragán tells Fox News, ‘The president-elect has even admitted that innocent women and children could get caught up in the operations.’” [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 11/12/24]
    • Former Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz said Trump “is going to focus on those security threats, those, you know, folks with terroristic ties, those national security threats, the folks that are bringing in narcotics, and criminal aliens first” before moving to the “migrant population that we see all over this country.” [Fox News, Your World with Neil Cavuto, 11/12/24]
    • Fox anchor Dana Perino attempted to downplay mass deportations by saying that “Homan has been very clear the criminals come first,” but former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott said that “no one will be off the table.” Perino asked, “Criminals, if that's the first target for people who broke the law who are here that are violent, why wouldn't a governor like her [Massachusetts’ Maura Healey] want them out of her state?” Scott referred to the crime of “illegally coming into the U.S.” and said that “no one will be off the table, meaning that when ICE goes in to arrest those individuals and they stumble on other illegal immigrants, other crimes at the same time, agents will be able to take care of all those crimes at the same time.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 11/12/24]
    • Fox host Sean Hannity talked about deporting “millions of criminal illegal immigrants,” listing “gang members, cartel members, drug dealers, people that we know are murderers and rapists, and those that are known terrorists.” He did not mention the nonviolent undocumented migrants who would be deported alongside them. [Fox News, Hannity, 11/12/24]
    • Former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker said terrorists and criminals “should expect to leave the country immediately,” dodging a question from  Fox anchor Martha MacCallum about people who are “afraid that their families will be separated.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 11/12/24]

  • Homan has claimed that that “no one is off the table” and that the “biggest deportation in U.S. history” is “coming soon"

    • Homan has repeatedly said that the “biggest deportation in U.S. history” is “coming soon.” Homan claimed that those who “clearly” don't “qualify for asylum,” families who “arrive without authorization,” and people “sneaking in” will be deported. [Twitter/X, 12/12/23, 2/1/24, 11/16/23, 12/2/23]
    • When asked on 60 Minutes whether there was any way to conduct deportations without separating families, Homan stated, “Of course there is. Families can be deported together,” suggesting that legal migrants or even U.S. citizens in mixed-status families could be deported too. CBS News’ Cecilia Vega pressed Homan for specifics, asking, “So you are carrying out a targeted enforcement operation. Grandma's in the house. She's undocumented. Does she get arrested too?” Homan replied that “it depends,” saying, “Let the judge decide.” [CBS News, 10/27/24]
    • Homan suggested that “the vast majority” of undocumented migrants will be deported. Homan: “When you have an historic illegal immigration crisis, where millions enter the country illegally and the vast majority will be ordered removed by a judge because they either don’t show up in court or they simply don't qualify for asylum, it will result in an historic deportation operation.” [Twitter/X, 11/20/23]
    • Homan asserted that “nine out of 10” undocumented immigrants will “get an order of removal based on immigration court data.” Homan also claimed, “A judge orders them to be removed. We’re going to find them and we’re gonna remove them.… If there’s no consequence, we can’t fix the border. We’re going to have a consequence in the Trump administration.” [Twitter/X, 11/19/23]
    • On The Charlie Kirk Show, Homan claimed that “90% of these people crossing the border would not qualify for asylum” and would be “removed by a federal judge.” He continued: “So what is the option? If they stay, millions  more come. We have to enforce the law, no apologies.” He also once again claimed that he will “run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.” [Salem Radio Network, The Charlie Kirk Show, 12/18/23]
    • Homan recently encouraged migrants, including noncriminals, to self-deport because “we know who you are, and we’re going to come and find you.” After he was announced as Trump’s pick for “border czar,” Homan appeared on Fox News’ Hannity and claimed, “While we’re out prioritizing the public safety threats and national security threats, if you want to self-deport, you should self-deport because, again, we know who you are, and we’re going to come and find you. … But for those others, the noncriminals, you want to self-deport, I’m all for it. Because when they self-deport, they can put their orders — everything in order – their family business, if they have homes or whatever – they can put all that in order and leave with their family all together.” [Fox News, Hannity, 11/11/24]
    • Homan claimed, “If you’re in the country illegally, it’s not OK. If you’re in the country illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.” While appearing at the Heritage Foundation’s Policy Fest in 2024, Homan said, “No one’s off the table. If you’re in the country illegally, it’s not OK. If you’re in the country illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder. The bottom line is: every illegal alien is a criminal. They enter the country in violation of federal law. It's a crime to enter this country illegally.” [Media Matters, 7/16/24]

  • Miller has promoted “mass arrests and mass deportations,” which he said would include deporting “everyone coming and everyone Biden resettled”

    • Miller has repeatedly called for mass deportations, often framing them as the opposite of  Democrats' supposed “mass importation.” In February 2024, Miller said that the U.S. should “deport everyone coming and everyone Biden resettled.” [Twitter/ X, 2/20/24, 2/29/24, 9/14/24, 10/6/24]
    • At Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, Miller said, “America is for America and Americans only.” [Politico, 10/28/24]
    • During an interview, Miller suggested that the U.S. military be used to help carry out mass deportations. Miller also advocated for building mass detention facilities that “hold upwards of 50, 60, 70 thousand illegal aliens while you are waiting to send them someplace, somewhere that would be willing to accept them.” [Media Matters, 9/28/24]
    • Miller posted that “the only public policy solution is mass arrests and mass deportations” when retweeting a video of pro-Palestine protesters kicking a door. Miller also wrote, “One-third of NYC residents are foreign-born, so one can imagine the proportions in this mob.” Later on, Miller wrote “Mass Deportation” when retweeting a video of a pro-Palestine protest. [Twitter/X, 11/11/23, 11/29/23]
    • Miller suggested that the only way to avoid an Islamic State group terror attack is to deport undocumented immigrants. Miller tweeted, “Biden let ISIS terrorists into America. Now, no one can find them. Only a matter of time until they attack — unless Trump is elected to launch mass deportations.” [Twitter/X, 6/26/24]