‘Meteoric Rise’: How A Fishing Trip And A Phone Call Made Tom Homan ‘Border Czar’

Tom Homan was shaking hands with colleagues around President Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security in Jan. 2017, just days before President Donald Trump was set to take office for the first time. It was Homan’s retirement party, celebrating his more than 30 years of working in immigration enforcement.

Noem makes aggressive new move to ramp up arrests, deportations of illegal immigrants

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem signed a memo this week deputizing up to 600 State Department officials as immigration officers, as part of a government-wide push to ramp up deportations and secure the border.

Noem signed an order that deputized up to 600 special agents in the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service to help with the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants.

Over a dozen religious groups file immigration lawsuit

 More than 25 religious groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging a Trump administration order that allows immigration agents to make arrests at houses of worship.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington and says the new policy is spreading fear and lowering attendance at services and other church programs, which the groups say infringes their religious freedom.

That freedom, the groups say, includes their ability to minister to immigrants, including those who don’t have documents.

Pope Francis Predicts Trump Administration’s Mass Deportation Program ‘Will End Badly’

The Pope strongly criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation of illegal aliens in a letter to U.S. Bishops dated February 10, reiterating his longstanding support for a permissive approach to immigration grounded in Catholic doctrine.

Pope Francis’s ten-point letter likens the plight of migrants to the Holy Family’s escape to Egypt and calls for an immigration policy based on upholding the fundamental dignity of every human being.

Introduction to Birthright Citizenship in the American Immigration System

Jus soli, or birthright citizenship, is the idea that those born in the U.S. are automatically considered citizens of the United States regardless of their parents’ citizenship. While birthright citizenship is often attributed to the 14th Amendment , the policy has recently sparked debate in political and legal circles, in part due to Donald Trump’s promise to issue an executive order ending birthright citizenship for those born to unauthorized parents during his presidency.