White House border czar Tom Homan flatly ruled out any “amnesty” for illegal immigrants as part of President Trump’s plans — and said he won’t accept an amnesty bill from Congress, either.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Mr. Homan said he wanted to tamp down on news coverage suggesting Mr. Trump is eyeing leniency for migrants who work on farms or in service jobs.
“I’ve read a lot of news stories out here that are inaccurate. There will be no amnesty,” he said.
He was then asked about a new bipartisan House bill that envisions a path to citizenship for illegal immigrant “Dreamers,” and some form of legal status, short of potential citizenship, for other illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. for at least five years.
“The president will not approve any amnesty,” Mr. Homan reiterated.
His comments come as the Trump administration has sown confusion over the president’s approach to illegal immigrants in the interior of the U.S. Facing complaints from businesses worried about losing their migrant workforce — particularly in the agriculture and hospitality industries — the president has promised some leniency.
He directed immigration officers to focus on major cities instead of the country’s “heartland.”
But what that means in practice has not been clear — particularly given Mr. Trump’s demand for “mass deportations.”
The newly enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act pumps billions of dollars into Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s capacity to detain and deport illegal immigrants.
Mr. Homan said ICE has about 60,000 bed spaces now and the bill funds tens of thousands more.
Mr. Homan said he’s looking to rent additional spaces as quickly as possible.
“The faster we get the beds, the more people we can take off the street,” he said.
ICE data released this week showed that as of July 12, ICE had 56,816 people in detention.
In the two weeks between June 28 and July 12, ICE averaged about 840 book-ins a day, down from nearly 1,200 a day in early June but higher than the average early in the new administration.
ICE has been averaging more than 1,100 deportations a day for the last month and a half.
