Trump Border Czar Plans 10,000 New Deportation Officers, Vows Mass Removals

President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan said Tuesday, May 5, 2026, that the administration is hiring 10,000 new deportation officers and will not ease interior immigration enforcement.

Speaking at a border security conference in Phoenix, Homan said the administration has carried out roughly 800,000 removals and is still aiming for about 1 million deportations a year, with criminals and security threats prioritized. He reaffirmed that unauthorized immigrants encountered during operations will be detained even if they are not original targets, saying, "I don't care how long you've been here."

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott described a stepped-up data-sharing system in which Border Patrol agents and CBP officers send interview information to ICE "within minutes," enabling follow-up arrests at homes far from the border within hours. Homan argued that tighter enforcement and quick returns have made the southern border "more secure than it has ever been" and framed the policy as saving migrant lives, while advocates contend such tactics push crossings into more dangerous terrain.

The administration has not provided detailed public data to verify its removal counts, leaving journalists and researchers unable to fully confirm how deportations are being calculated.