White House border czar Tom Homan said Sunday that a new plan to expand worksite immigration enforcement has cleared Homeland Security Investigations and will soon land on the desk of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican.
“I know the worksite enforcement plan just cleared last week out of HSI because I asked for the plan,” Homan told Fox News. “I think the gentlemen I brought in did a tremendous job. A lot of it is focusing on not just worksite enforcement, but those who use fraudulent IDs to steal your Social Security numbers. We’ll prosecute them.”
Homan said the goal goes beyond arresting workers in the country illegally. “And for employers that knowingly hire illegal aliens, it’s not just about arresting aliens. It’s about holding employers accountable so they don’t try employing illegal aliens,” he said. “So I think we’ll move quickly on that. I just saw the draft from HSI last week, so I think the secretary will probably see it this week or next week. And I’m all for it.”
A Split Inside the Administration
Homan’s remarks offer a rare public glimpse of disagreement inside the Trump administration over how aggressively to enforce immigration law at job sites. Business-aligned Republicans have urged caution in sectors such as agriculture, construction, meatpacking, hotels, and restaurants, where employers rely heavily on migrant labor and fear that raids could disrupt operations or drive up prices.
President Donald Trump has acknowledged the political bind. “Because they’ll say ‘You’re too tough,’ or ‘You’re too soft.’ ‘Get tougher!’ ‘Get softer!’ No matter what you do, it’s always tough,” Trump told a group of Latino allies on September 30.
Secretary Mullin, a successful Oklahoma businessman before joining the administration, said last month that ICE has not been carrying out worksite operations in Kansas. “ICE is not conducting worksite operations in Kansas,” Mullin wrote on X on September 25. “ICE law enforcement has conducted operations targeting heinous criminals including murderers, rapists, and drug traffickers and illegal aliens with final orders of removal.”
At the same time, Mullin has spoken bluntly about the broader stakes of unchecked migration. “If you were to AI the question ‘How do you turn a red state blue, or how do you turn a country from democracy to socialism?’ — it’ll tell you 100 percent of the time you’ve got to change demographics,” Mullin told Breitbart News on October 7.
Why Worksite Checks Matter
Immigration policy advocates have long pushed for low-profile I-9 audits — reviews of the employment eligibility paperwork companies are required to keep on file — as a way to pressure employers without the visibility of street-level raids. Supporters say the approach raises legal exposure for business owners who look the other way on fraudulent documents.
“That’s the area where management at DHS could really make a difference and move the President’s agenda of mass deportations significantly,” said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
Homan framed the broader goal as deterrence. “Worksite law enforcement needs to happen,” he told Fox News. “We need to send a message to the whole world: It’s illegal to knowingly hire illegal immigrants to work — and if you can’t get a job, you’re not going to come.”
The Biden administration had halted worksite raids and pursued efforts to legalize migrant workers already employed in the country. Under the Trump administration, public attention has centered on deporting migrants described as the “Worst of the Worst” criminal offenders, even as the worksite enforcement question remains unresolved.
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