Former DHS secretary says Trump's choice to send 'border czar' Tom Homan to Minnesota is 'stroke of genius'
Former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf praised President Donald Trump's decision to send "border czar" Tom Homan to handle unrest in Minneapolis Monday on "The Story with Martha MacCallum."
"Having the president send Tom Homan up there is just a stroke of genius," Wolf said. "I think Tom is exactly the right person. Why? Because he is also in career law enforcement, he’s an operator. He knows exactly what needs to be done there, and where is the give-and-take – where can we get a win for both so that you can bring the violence and the chaos down but that ICE can continue to do their mission."
Trump announced Monday that he was sending Homan to Minnesota, noting he will report "directly to me" and will help lead the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
"I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, noted during a press briefing Monday that Homan is the point person for coordinating cooperation between state and local authorities. She recalled that Homan was praised by the Washington Post years ago for his work under then-President Barack Obama, who had given him a 2015 Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service.
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Some critics see Trump's move as a top-down strategic political shakeup as ICE leadership faces criticism not only for its handling of unrest in Minneapolis, but for how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has spoken about the fatal shooting of activist Alex Pretti on Saturday.
Pretti, a nurse at Minneapolis' Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent during a demonstration against Trump's immigration crackdown. Noem said it appeared Pretti "arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement."
"An individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm this individual, but the armed suspect reacted violently. Fearing for his life and for the lives of his fellow officers around him, an agent fired defensive shots," she said.
Critics have disputed Noem's characterization of the shooting. However, Leavitt said, Trump still believes in his Homeland Security secretary.
"We just heard from Karoline Leavitt that the president has confidence in Kristi Noem, but as someone who was in the former administration, what do you think?" Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum asked Wolf. "Do you think we’re going to see changes made in personnel?"
"We certainly could," Wolf replied. "Look, here’s what I will tell you. Those DHS law enforcement officers at ICE, at CBP, they absolutely love President Trump, and why? Because he has their back. He supports them. That being said, a lot of these officers, obviously, this is their career and what they do and the vast majority of their operations are done out of sight. They are not going on CNN and Fox and elsewhere all day, every day, and so I think they [administration officials] are always concerned. ‘Is this getting out of control? Are we politicizing what they do, which is just enforcing the law?’ It’s not political in their minds. It’s just simply the law is immigration enforcement and this is what we are doing. So, if there are concerns, those are likely it."
Wolf suggested that Homan could bridge the divide between federal authorities and local law enforcement officials.
"I think it’s important to remember, ICE is there to arrest criminal illegal aliens, and it’s much better to do that with local law enforcement," he said. "So if Tom Homan can get local law enforcement involved in assisting ICE, however that looks – whether that’s protecting them while they do the mission, whatever it might be – I think that’s a win."