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Tom Homan, the so-called "border czar" and primary architect of the White House's immigration policy, announced this Tuesday a new phase of mass deportations in the United States during his participation in the Border Security Expo held in Phoenix, Arizona.
In front of an audience of authorities and security specialists, Homan reaffirmed the government strategy of Donald Trump and harshly rejected the criticisms from sectors of the MAGA movement that consider the deportations carried out so far to be insufficient.
"For those who say that President Trump is weakening on mass deportations, they have no idea what they are talking about. They haven't seen anything yet," warned the official, labeling his critics as "keyboard warriors."
Homan was even more direct in anticipating what is to come: "Mass deportations are on the horizon. This will be a good year."
The official explained that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will seek to implement more selective operations, following the controversies generated by previous interventions in cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles, where the raids sparked protests and violent incidents.
Although he insisted that the priority is individuals considered threats to public safety and criminals, Homan acknowledged that between 35% and 40% of those detained by ICE have no criminal records, while defending these actions as a globally deterrent measure.
The "border czar" also threatened to increase the presence of agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in states that limit cooperation with federal authorities.
"What is going to happen in places like New York, where people approve this ridiculous legislation to not cooperate with us? We are going to flood the area. You will see more ICE agents than ever," he stated.
The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, responded immediately: "The only thing I will say to Mr. Homan is that Donald Trump himself said he would not send a large number of ICE agents to the state of New York unless I asked him to. And I am not asking him to."
Homan's statements come in the context of increased pressure from the hardline wing of the MAGA movement, which on March 30 presented a 21-point plan demanding the deportation of at least one million people.
Since January 2025, ICE has recorded more than 160,000 arrests of individuals with criminal convictions or pending charges, and public arrests increased by 1,000% during the first year of Trump's second term.
For the Cuban community, the impact has been particularly significant: the arrests of Cubans by ICE increased by 463% between the end of 2024 and the end of 2025, and at least four direct deportation flights to Havana have transported 530 repatriated individuals so far in 2026.
The Trump administration aims to deport one million people during the current fiscal year and the following one, and has acquired 11 warehouses across the country to expand detention capacity to 100,000 spaces, with an investment of 45 billion dollars.
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