Border Czar Tom Homan and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott came to Miami Thursday to tout the Trump administration’s efforts to stop illegal drugs, weapons and undocumented migrants from entering the country.
With a backdrop of displayed assault rifles and pistols and bales of cocaine and marijuana seized in recent operations in the Caribbean and South Florida, Homan and Scott said the flow of people, drugs and weapons across the southern land border has nearly come to a stop, and increased resources devoted to preventing contraband and people by sea are paying off.
Border Czar Tom Homan, left, gives his remarks at a press conference on the positive impact of border security efforts in Florida, including the interception of narcotics and firearms, and the arrest and removal of dangerous criminals, at Terminal V at PortMiami on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald
“Because there are consequences now. We are actually enforcing the laws,” Scott told reporters at a briefing at PortMiami.
Along with the display of seized contraband, the Virgin Voyages cruise terminal was packed with nearly 100 uniformed Customs officers and members of the U.S. Coast Guard and Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Customs Air and Marine Operations agents also put on a show in Government Cut with a Blackhawk helicopter and two Customs boats chasing down agents in a mock smuggling vessel.
A demonstration by U.S. Customs Air and Marine Operations is staged as guns are drawn on agents acting as smugglers after Border Czar Tom Homan and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott held a press conference on the positive impact of border security efforts in Florida, including the interception of narcotics and firearms and the arrest and removal of dangerous criminals, at Terminal V at PortMiami on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald
From Oct. 1 of last year through the end of this September, Scott said, border crossings across Mexico are down almost 95% from the monthly average during the Biden administration.
“America has worked to achieve the most secure border in our history. Not just because of the numbers. Because we know more about what’s coming across the borders today than we ever have,” Scott said.
U.S. CBP officers are at attendance as Border Czar Tom Homan and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott held a press conference on the positive impact of border security efforts in Florida, including the interception of narcotics and firearms, and the arrest and removal of dangerous criminals at Terminal V at the Port of Miami on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald
And, maritime migration, once a daily occurrence in South Florida, especially in the Keys, has slowed dramatically from the latter years of the Biden administration, when the region was seeing multiple landings of boats, mostly from Cuba, but also from Haiti.
“That means fewer people are being placed in danger by being placed on unsafe boats by smugglers. It’s actually saving lives. It means our agents can devote more resources to work with our state and local partners and our other federal partners to identify and disrupt the networks that move these people in our country, that bring these drugs into our country and traffic them,” Scott said.
While arrivals from Cuba and Haiti have demonstrably and dramatically slowed, South Florida is still seeing monthly arrivals of boats full of people who paid smugglers in the Bahamas to bring them to the U.S. Most of the people arriving from Cuba at the height of the influx in 2022 and 2023 came in groups on makeshift vessels, not by smugglers.
U.S. CBP are staged in the water as Border Czar Tom Homan and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott held a press conference on the positive impact of border security efforts in Florida, including the interception of narcotics and firearms, and the arrest and removal of dangerous criminals at Terminal V at the Port of Miami on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald
The Miami Herald asked Scott about the smugglers bringing people in from the Bahamas, and instead of answering the question, he continued speaking of the accomplishments of Customs and the Coast Guard increasing their patrols of the Caribbean and the Florida Straits.
Homan, however, did address the issue. He said that not only is smuggling from the Bahamas an ongoing issue, so is it too from other areas in the Caribbean, like the Virgin Islands. Last month, the Coast Guard and Customs encountered several migrant ventures, some deadly, off the Dominican Republic and in the treacherous Mona Pass, between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.
Homan said the solution lies in increasing the ranks and resources of the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection. He said he has spoken to members of those services, and they said they are stretched thin.
“They’re doing a great job, but from what I heard, they need more,” Homan said.
Confiscated items including drugs and firearms are displayed as Border Czar Tom Homan and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott held a press conference on the positive impact of border security efforts in Florida, including the interception of narcotics and firearms, and the arrest and removal of dangerous criminals at Terminal V at the Port of Miami on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald
Homan also addressed recent controversies with perhaps the most visible agency under his command — Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. He acknowledged “mistakes were made” when asked about two people killed by agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. But, he maintained the agents were enforcing existing laws.
“If you don’t like what ICE is doing, then call your senator or congressman and tell them to change the law,” Homan said.
This story was originally published October 29, 2026 at 4:27 PM.
Miami Herald
David Goodhue covers the Florida Keys and South Florida for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald. Before joining the Herald, he covered Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.