Texas Senator Ted Cruz said former ICE Director Tom Homan, recently nominated as President-elect Donald Trump's "border czar," will be the key figure in "driving" immigration policy at the southern border, rather than incoming Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
With Stephen Miller, who was appointed Deputy Chief of Policy, Trump has appointed a trio of hardliners to key posts that will play a frontline role in shaping immigration policy, making them crucial to his administration's potential success or failure.
Immigration was key to Trump's winning campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris and was instrumental in fueling his comeback victory last week.
Cruz said he is "very happy" with the appointments and praised Homan and Noem on the latest episode of his podcast, Verdict.
"Tom Homan cares passionately about defending the nation and securing our borders, the senator said.
"Homan and Noem will work hand in hand. They will be very effective. [Homan] understands the border and what it takes to secure the border.
"I think he will be the point person driving the agenda.
"We are going to secure the border; it won't take a year; it won't take six months. It will be done by January and February next year."
Newsweek reached out to Tom Homan for comment via a contact form on his website.
The Trump administration's plan to position Homan, the former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director, as the primary architect of this agenda has been met with a wave of criticism from advocacy groups.
In response to Noem's and Homan's appointments, a spokesperson for immigrant advocacy group No More Deaths told Newsweek that Homan is a "rabid anti-immigrant extremist."
"Trump's newest assignments for immigration are predictably terrifying and will further escalate the US government's bipartisan war against the world's most vulnerable people.
"Homan is a rabid anti-immigrant extremist who thinks the US should invade Mexico to solve the fentanyl crisis and wants the Border Patrol to rip babies from the arms of their parents in the name of national "security." He was also an Obama appointee, picked by the original "deporter-in-chief" to head ICE's deportation division—one of the many examples of Democrats happily paving the way for the situation we're in now."
Amy Fischer, director of Refugee and Migrant Rights at Amnesty International USA, told Newsweek: "Reports suggest that President-elect Trump is aiming to appoint officials that have a history of implementing family separation and mass deportation. The proposed policies are rooted in racism and xenophobia with the sole aim of causing cruel and immense suffering to people coming to the US to rebuild their lives."
Meanwhile, Homan revealed that he and his family have been receiving death threats since his appointment.
Homan, tasked with overseeing U.S. border security, said Monday morning on Fox & Friends that his family is currently "not at home" due to the threats.
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