President Trump has done well with his first announced appointments – Susie Wiles as White House chief-of-staff and Tom Homan as border czar.
Wiles was a superb pick. She is a no-nonsense operational person. As campaign chairman, she has proven an ability to balance Trump’s winging it with good practical implementation. She is not a political extremist, but rather a practical manager. She also is the first woman to hold that position. That puts the lie to the misogynist accusations and Mark Cuban’s snide claim that Trump is never seen in the presence of strong intelligent women. In appointing Wiles, Trump seems to understand the need to have a right hand woman to temper his more extravagant behavior.
Even more meaningful is the appointment of Tom Homan as border czar – with real authority. Homan distinguished himself has head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the first Trump administration. He was tasked with tracking down and removing individuals who are in the United States illegally — especially the criminals.
He was thwarted in the job by Democrat mayors and governors who established sanctuary cities and ordered police departments to refuse to cooperate with ICE by not handing over illegal criminal aliens they apprehended for local crimes.
With the election of Biden, Democrats were able to further thwart the efforts of ICE even as the administration was opening the border. ICE was also a target of Democrats’ overall police defunding policies.
During the Biden administration, Homan was often seen on FOX News. He provided clear and sensible observations about what needed to be done to secure the border – and why the Biden policies were doing the opposite. He came across as a man with common sense and an understanding of the issues.
In his first interview since being named, Homan demonstrated both those qualities. He explained in detail who would be prioritized for deportation – criminals, those who have been ordered out of the country by immigration judges (Biden & Co. was not even removing them) and then those who do not show up for the hearing and are therefore illegal.
Homan pushed back on the left-wing argument –proffered by such radical nutcases as MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell — that it is simply too expensive to deport people who are in America illegally – too expensive to boot out heinous criminals.
In addition to removing those here illegally – starting with the criminals – Homan explained how the border can be secured. It is just a matter of implementing Trump’s plans – – augmented by a few of Homan’s ideas.
In listening to Homan, the American people can rest assured that the problem of the open border and lack of immigration enforcement will end with sound policies and effective implementation.
Trump is off to a good start.
So, there ‘tis.