Caitlin Dickerson

So as much as he is an enforcement hardliner and used really aggressive language to justify deporting just about anybody, that...

federal authorities can get their hands on.

He was also someone in the Obama administration, for example, who people who were more advocacy-minded at DHS felt they could go to.

At the same time, the private prison companies who wanted to move faster and build more with less restrictions would do the same thing, also saw Homan as an ally.

And so I think

It can't be discounted how much more aggressive he's become in terms of supporting hardline policies.

But he's also a very skilled politician.

I think those two things together are why he's in the position he is now.

He's going to be taking direct orders from the president and from Stephen Miller as long as Stephen Miller remains in the very influential position that he's in now.

So there's a lot of shifting happening right now.

And I'm really reminded of in this moment of the period when public opinion turned against that first family separation policy.

And it's easy to forget, but you actually, in a very short period of time, went from even Republicans in Congress supporting that policy to people like Ted Cruz declaring that it should be illegal.

Up until now, it's been Stephen Miller.

But I think that does seem to be in question because the administration is seeing how much trouble listening to Miller has gotten them in when it comes to public opinion.

Thanks, Scott.

Thanks for having me.

So ICE is responsible for immigration enforcement within the interior of the country, going after people who've made it across the border, are living in American cities, and who are subject to deportation.

That's who they were under the Biden administration, and that's who they are now.

The difference is how they go about that work.

So really, since the Ford era, we've had some level of priorities that immigration enforcement officials are supposed to follow for who they should go after versus who they shouldn't.