Donald Trump to appoint former ICE director Tom Homan as U.S. ...

Tom Homan speaks at a primary election night party in Nashua, N.H., on Jan. 23.Matt Rourke/The Associated Press

Tom Homan, U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar,” said on Monday he would prioritize deporting immigrants in the United States illegally who posed safety and security threats as well as those working at job sites.

Trump, who takes office in January, said in a social-media post overnight that the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from his first administration would be in charge of the country’s borders in his new administration starting Jan. 20.

The president-elect made cracking down on illegal immigration the central element of his campaign, promising mass deportations.

He is expected to mobilize agencies across the U.S. government to help him deport record numbers of immigrants in an operation that his incoming vice president has said could remove an estimated one million people per year.

“Public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority … they pose the most danger to this country,” Homan told Fox News in an interview, adding: “Worksite operations have to happen.”

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform late on Sunday, said Homan will be “in charge of our nation’s borders (”The Border Czar”), including, but not limited to, the Southern Border, the Northern Border, all Maritime, and Aviation Security,” including the deportation of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

Immigrant advocates have warned that Trump’s deportation effort would be costly, divisive and inhumane, leading to family separations and devastating communities.

Homan, a frequent speaker on Fox News who was often praised by Trump during the campaign and who campaigned for him, said he would also focus on immigrants ordered to leave after a failed asylum claims, telling the television network: “At the end of that due process, if the judge says you must go home, then we have to take them home.”

He also said he would like to have co-operation from local law enforcement: “We’re going to do the job without you or with you.”

It was not yet clear who would serve as head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the U.S. Border Patrol, as Trump continues to meet with potential candidates for his administration before his Jan. 20 inauguration as president.

Chad Wolf, who served as acting secretary of Homeland Security for part of Trump’s first presidency, and U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Mark Green could be top contenders.

Trump has chosen Republican Representative Elise Stefanik to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the president-elect said in a statement shared with Reuters on Monday.

“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said.

Stefanik, 40, a New York representative and House Republican Conference chair, has been a fierce Trump ally.

She could not be immediately reached for comment.

The United Nations has been planning for Trump’s return and the cuts to U.S. funding and engagement with the world body that are likely to come with his second term as president.

A U.S. retreat at the U.N. could open the door for China, which has been building its influence in global diplomacy.

Trump has offered few specifics about foreign policy in his second term but supporters say the force of his personality and his “peace through strength” approach will help bend foreign leaders to his will. He has vowed to solve the war in Ukraine and is expected to give strong support to Israel in its conflicts with Hamas and Hezbollah in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Among the top concerns at the UN are whether the United States will decide to contribute less money to the 193-member world body and withdraw from key multinational institutions and agreements, including the World Health Organization and the Paris climate agreement.

Stefanik took a Republican leadership position in the House of Representatives in 2021 when she was elected to replace Liz Cheney, who was ousted for criticizing Trump’s continued false claims of election fraud.

Her first turn in the national limelight came when she mounted an impassioned defence of Trump at his first impeachment trial in 2019, leading the then-president to declare that “a star is born.”

Stefanik was the youngest woman ever elected to Congress when she first won her district, which had voted twice for Democratic President Barack Obama and had been represented by Democrats in Congress since 1993.

She was seen as a potential vice-president pick for Trump before he selected JD Vance.

Trump said on Saturday that former Republican presidential contender Nikki Haley will not be asked to join his administration.

Haley served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump during his previous term and had endorsed Trump for president despite having criticized him harshly when she ran against him in the party primaries.