He is also one of the most vocal defenders of Trump’s immigration policy and mass deportation drive.

A native of upstate New York, Homan began his career in law enforcement as a police officer before joining border patrol in 1984 in southern California.

He joined what was then called the Immigration and Naturalization Service four years later, climbing through the ranks of US immigration enforcement over multiple years.

By 2013 – under the Obama administration – he held a little-known but influential post heading the Enforcement and Removal Operations arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice)

Homan had planned to retire in 2017, just days before Trump’s first administration began.

An abrupt call at his retirement party from incoming Chief of Staff John Kelly changed those plans.

“I remember him saying, I know it was bad timing, but the president-elect wanted me to stay and run [ICE],” Homan recalled in an interview last year with the Daily Caller. “Monday morning, I called [Kelly] and said I want to come back.”

A similar call, this time from current Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, again brought him out of retirement in 2024 ahead of the second administration.

While “border tsar” is an informal term and position, it refers to an executive-branch role overseeing border and immigration policy across multiple agencies. It is not Senate confirmed, and is a policy position directly appointed by the serving president.

So far in Trump’s second term, Homan has been a vocal defender of the president’s broad deportation goals, vowing to target the “worst of the worst” and challenge the notion that “those who enforce the law are the bad guys and those who break the law are the victims”.

But in practice, enforcing immigration laws and attempting to focus on public safety threats has also ensnared other undocumented migrants who have no criminal background – a fact that Homan acknowledges and blames on “sanctuary cities” that do not work with federal immigration efforts. Officials have said the act of being in the US illegally is a crime in itself.

“We’re not going to instruct ICE not to arrest [someone] unless there’s a serious crime,” he told reporters in July at the White House, where he makes regular appearances.

“What message does that send the whole world? Go ahead and enter the country,” Homan added.

In September, the White House swiftly came to Homan’s defence after reports emerged that he was accused in a bribery case that was ultimately dropped by the justice department when Trump returned to office.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described that case – which allegedly saw Homan accept $50,000 (£36,3000) from undercover agents – as an effort to “entrap” a key Trump ally.