New Administration: President-Elect Trump Taps Several Immigration Hardliners for Administration

Over the past several days, President-elect Donald Trump has selected several people to serve in his administration, which will start on January 20, 2025. All, unsurprisingly, have expressed views that parallel those the President-elect when it comes to immigration issues.

Former ICE Director to Serve as “Border Czar”

Trump announced that Tom Homan will be his Administration’s “border czar,” and that Homan will oversee “the southern border, the northern border, all maritime, and aviation security.” More notably, Homan will be responsible for fulfilling one of Trump’s key campaign promises – the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants from the United States.

Homan served as the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Trump’s first administration. He helped to orchestrate the first Trump Administration’s zero tolerance policy of routinely separating migrant children from their parents.

Stephen Miller Named Deputy Chief of Staff

Trump has selected Stephen Miller to be his Deputy Chief of Staff. Miller is one of Trump’s most loyal allies and is known also as an immigration hawk.

Miller was involved in various controversial policies during Trump’s first administration, including the family separation and travel ban from numerous Muslim-majority countries. Miller also has long pushed to reduce legal immigration in various ways, such as advocating for the elimination of the STEM OPT program and creating additional bureaucratic hurdles to applying for a green card.

Governor Kristi Noem Selected to Head Homeland Security

Trump has reportedly tapped South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Noem, another staunch Trump supporter, would need to be confirmed by the Senate before formally taking over the DHS.

If confirmed to this position, Noem would be responsible for many of U.S. immigration’s key entities, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and ICE. Although Noem governs a state that is not on a U.S. border, she has long expressed support for Trump’s border policies.

Senator Marco Rubio Nominated for Secretary of State

Trump is expected to nominate Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. As the head of the U.S. Department of State (DOS), most of Rubio’s responsibilities will be focused on foreign affairs, but he also will be tasked with overseeing all U.S. embassies and consulates, so visa “stamping” and related processes will fall under his purview, assuming he is confirmed by the Senate, which seems inevitable.

Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants, and, early in his career in the U.S. Senate, he was a proponent of bipartisan immigration reform. At the time, he advocated for an increase in the number of employment-based green cards, and he even publicly pushed for more H1B visas to be made available each fiscal year. In recent years, however, Rubio has backed off on any such calls for immigration reform, and instead has followed Trump’s lead, to focus almost exclusively on border security. What this will mean for visa appointments at U.S. consular posts remains to be seen.

Conclusion

The incoming Trump Administration almost certainly will make life far more difficult for undocumented immigrants in the United States. What has received far less attention is how President-elect Trump, and his appointees, will handle legal immigration. If Trump’s first term as president tells us anything, there is reason to be gravely concerned.

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