Abbott, Homan Plan Mass Deportations Before Inauguration

Governor Greg Abbott and President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar” promised mass deportations and other actions while visiting the Texas border on Tuesday.

“Let me be clear: There is going to be a mass deportation because we just finished a mass illegal immigration crisis on the border,” Homan said.

Homan is a named contributor to the Project 2025 plan by the Heritage Foundation. In the first Trump Administration, he was an acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director and a key part of the family separation policy designed to discourage migration by taking children away from parents and guardians when they crossed the border together. Internal memos from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) show that the policy was a complete failure when it came to deterring migrants. Thousands of children were taken from their parents with long-lasting traumatic effects.

Meanwhile, Abbott has spent the last four years waging a possibly illegal border war under the umbrella of Operation Lone Star. Using executive powers, Abbott has spent $11 billion on deploying the Texas National Guard, building barriers in the Rio Grande that have been deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, and entrapping migrants by forcing them to trespass on private property then arresting them. Like Homan, Abbott’s work has largely been ineffective, though he has repeatedly claimed victory for improvement at the border brought about by President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

While at the border, Homan and Abbott served meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers.

It is unclear what Homan plans to do before Trump’s installment in January. Possibly he will ride shotgun with Abbott on various border activities, a figurehead without real power. Homan has promised that his mass deportation plan does not include large sweeps, but will continue the targeted deportations of the Biden Administration. He has also said that he will retaliate against sanctuary cities, though not how.

The border visit and anti-migrant rhetoric is part of a Republican strategy to secure political support in the Rio Grande Valley. After a century as a Democratic stronghold, Trump carried 12 of the 14 counties closest to the southern border. This included Starr County, the most Latino majority county in the nation.

Despite the violent and racist rhetoric Trump aimed at the border, his repeated trips there empowered Republican efforts. Many Latinos in the area work for the Border Patrol. High-paying jobs with good benefits are scarce in the poverty-stricken RGV. Abbott, Trump, and now Homan’s attention in the area now finds a ready audience.

That may change if Homan and Abbott continue with their mass deportation plans. Texas farmers and ranchers in the borderlands rely on migrant labor to work the land. Loss of this workforce is likely to push grocery prices higher. In addition, the American Immigration Council estimates that the cost of mass deportation in terms of law enforcement alone would be a $1 trillion  over a decade.