Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detain a man after conducting a raid at the Cedar Run apartment complex in Denver, Colorado, U.S., February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt
President Donald Trump is furious that his administration isn't deporting as many immigrants as he had promised his voters it would — and his border czar Tom Homan is feeling the heat of his wrath, NBC News reported on Friday evening.
Homan, who previously served as Trump's acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has become notorious for making the rounds on TV to vow harsh and decisive action on immigration and the border. He stirred controversy by suggesting whole families could be deported even if the children were U.S. citizens, and threatened Democratic mayors with arrest if they stood in the way of ICE agents carrying out Trump's plans.
But Trump is nonetheless unsatisfied with his work output, per the report.
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"A source familiar with Trump’s thinking said the president is getting 'angry' that more people are not being deported and that the message is being passed along to 'border czar' Tom Homan, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello," reported Kristen Welker and Julia Ainsley.
One source told NBC, “It’s driving him nuts they’re not deporting more people.”
Homan himself is feeling "unhappy" with the relatively low numbers too, said the report; meanwhile, Vitello "told agents in January to aim to meet a daily quota of 1,200-1,400 arrests," but so far the highest number they've managed in one day was 1,100.
The Trump administration, for its part, publicly blames any shortfalls on the former administration of President Joe Biden.
“After four years of the Biden administration’s outright incompetence and negligence, the Trump administration has re-established a no-nonsense enforcement of and respect for the immigration laws of the United States,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said. “Hundreds of violent, predatory, and gang-affiliated criminal illegal aliens have already been rounded up and deported by ICE since President Trump took office — and the Trump administration is aligned on securing our borders and ensuring that mass deportations are conducted quickly and effectively to put Americans and America First.”