Thomas Homan ~ The Liberty Forum ~ 4-12-2022

Historic Crisis on our Border

Thomas D. Homan
Former Acting Director, ICE

Since January 2021, over 2 million people from all over the world have entered our nation illegally.

Which border should we as Americans be most concerned about? There is certainly much to say about the shocking attacks by Russia against Ukraine's borders, and these attacks are not only devastating civilians in both countries, but are also sending global shockwaves throughout economic, financial and commerce systems.

The question is: Would these attacks have happened if the United States had stronger leadership in protecting our own borders, and are the two situations linked?

The Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley is proud to host Thomas D. ("Tom") Homan, former Trump-appointed Acting Director of ICE to discuss the importance of protecting the United States borders. Our economic and monetary systems are directly affected by our national policy, as are our election systems and our general welfare as Americans.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Thomas D. Homan was appointed by President Trump on January 30, 2017 as the Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He remained the Acting Director until his retirement on June 30, 2018. ICE is the largest investigative arm within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government. ICE has more than 20,000 Special Agents, Officers and other employees and has an annual budget of more than $8 billion. ICE is charged with protecting the homeland through criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs trade, and immigration. ICE Agents are located in more than 400 offices in the United States and 46 foreign countries.

From 2013 to his Presidential Appointment, Mr. Homan served as the Executive Associate Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). In this capacity, he led ICE’s efforts to identify, arrest, detain, and remove illegal aliens, including those who present a danger to national security or are a risk to public safety, as well as those who enter the United States illegally or otherwise undermine the integrity of our immigration laws and our border control efforts. In those three years while he served as the EAD, Homan oversaw the removal of more than one million illegal aliens from the United States.

Mr. Homan is a 34-year veteran of law enforcement and has nearly 33 years of immigration enforcement experience. He has served as a police officer in New York; a U.S. Border Patrol Agent; a Special Agent with the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service; as well as Supervisory Special Agent and Deputy Assistant Director for Investigations. In 1999, Mr. Homan became the Assistant District Director for Investigations (ADDI) in San Antonio, Texas, and three years later transferred to the ADDI position in Dallas, Texas.

Upon the creation of ICE, Mr. Homan was named as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Dallas and later to the Deputy Special Agent in Charge. In March 2009, Mr. Homan accepted the position of Assistant Director for Enforcement at ICE Headquarters in Washington DC and was subsequently promoted to Deputy Executive Associate Director.

Mr. Homan holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and has received numerous awards and special recognitions for his 34 plus years as a federal law enforcement officer and leader. He received the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award in 2015 for his exemplary leadership and extensive accomplishments in the area of immigration enforcement. He also received the Distinguished Service Medal in June 2018 in recognition of exceptionally distinguished and transformational service to strengthen Homeland Security for the United States. Again in 2018 he also received the Law Enforcement Person of the Year Award from the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association that represents over 26,000 federal law enforcement officers. In November of 2019, Homan was also awarded the Man of the Year Award by Blue Magazine, a law enforcement publication created by and managed by law enforcement career professionals. Finally, on January 11, 2021, Tom was awarded the National Security Medal by President Trump for his distinguished achievement in the field of national security through exceptionally meritorious service to our nation.