The planned presentation by U.S. border czar Tom Homan at the University of Texas at El Paso this week has generated concerns among some students, local elected leaders and human rights groups.
Homan, a native of New York, previously worked as a police officer and Border Patrol agent, investigator and administrator. He advocates for the deportation of undocumented immigrants and family separation policy, and opposes sanctuary cities.
The free presentation is slated for 7 p.m. Thursday in the university’s Undergraduate Learning Center, Room 106. Registration for the event is ongoing. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Event organizers said that Homan will talk about the importance of border security followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience who were told “to exhibit decorum and act accordingly.” UTEP’s chapter of Turning Point USA will serve as hosts.
Turning Point USA, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics in high schools, colleges and universities, was co-founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012. Kirk, who was shot and killed while speaking at a Utah university in September, held controversial stances on various issues and advocated for mass deportations and a halt to immigration altogether.
Members of the UTEP chapter, which launched in September, did not respond to an interview request. Dana Rincon, a Turning Point USA representative, said in a Nov. 26 email that her organization was not conducting interviews before the event, but offered to send a prepared statement. El Paso Matters had not received a statement. UTEP also did not respond to questions about Homan’s visit.
The presence of Homan at UTEP upset Naomi Rees, a junior who is studying chemistry and Spanish literature at the university, one of the country’s largest Hispanic-serving institutions with a student body that is 84% Hispanic. She is one of the organizers behind a planned protest at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Leech Grove at University Avenue and Wiggins Way.
Rees, an Austin native, said she thought speaking out against a system that harms people and violates their rights was the right thing to do. While supportive of border security, she called the Trump administration’s methods immoral and unjustified.
“I felt like I had to (protest),” the 21-year-old student said Tuesday afternoon at a café near campus. “(Homan’s) targeting people who are vulnerable and using fear to deter people from immigrating or to compel people to self-migrate.”
Rees said friends from Chihuahua, Mexico, and others from mixed-status families have told her that they support the protest, but do not plan to participate to keep from becoming a target of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mixed-status families are households with members with different immigration statuses.
The student advocate said she expects about 30 people at the Thursday protest. Organizers have used flyers, social media and word-of-mouth to alert the public. She said this is something worthwhile.
“I need to be able to stand up for people who are and would be targeted,” said Rees, who later added, “I think that’s the best way to use (my) white privilege.”
The Border Network for Human Rights along with several other border advocacy groups have planned their own peaceful protest at 5 p.m. Wednesday at UTEP’s Leech Grove. Organizers said people will offer first-person testimonials on the harm caused by the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies, militarization of the border and ongoing assaults on human and constitutional rights.
Homan’s invitation also upset U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, who represents Texas’ 16th Congressional District in El Paso, and El Paso County Commissioner David Stout.
Escobar said that El Paso is a “loving, welcoming community” and that the majority of its residents do not agree with Homan’s divisive message. She mentioned that he actively demonizes student Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and contribute to the economy and the community.
“Homan has been one of the chief architects of the Trump administration’s cruel, hardline mass deportation tactics,” Escobar said in a statement. “Despite promises to go after the ‘worst of the worst,’ their efforts have done little but terrorize families, including mixed-status families, households with immigrants who have been in the country for decades, parents of U.S. citizens, and U.S. citizens themselves.”
Because of the Homan visit, Stout authored a resolution that condemned the militarization of the border and the expansion of immigration crackdowns that are part of the Trump administration’s plan. It also reaffirmed the county’s support of immigrants, due process and human dignity. The El Paso County Commissioners Court unanimously passed the resolution Nov. 24.
Stout, in a prepared statement, said that Homan’s message goes against the values of a community that is binational, bilingual and pro-immigration.
“We cannot and will not accept a politics that treats our neighbors, our loved ones, our coworkers, as threats to be managed instead of human beings to be respected,” Stout said.
According toTransactional Records Access Clearinghouse , which tracks federal immigration data, ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection had placed more than 65,000 people in immigration detention centers as of mid-November. Of that number, 73.6% did not have a criminal record. Most of the others had minor convictions including traffic violations.
The TRAC report stated that Texas had the highest number of detainees with 17,502, followed by Louisiana with 8,137. The El Paso Camp East Montana on Fort Bliss has the largest number of detainees in fiscal year 2026 with a daily average of 2,777 detainees.
Homan previously spoke at a college campus last March when he participated in the New College of Florida 2025 Socratic Stage Dialogue Series. That presentation in front of about 200 people in Sarasota, Florida, centered on the importance of border security, an assessment of the U.S. immigration policy, and the need to hold accountable those who break the law.
A National Public Radio account of the meeting included Homan’s statements that more needs to be done to secure the border because that saves lives.
“That’s the truth,” said Homan, who served as acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during President Trump’s first administration.
The post Students, advocates and leaders push back against Tom Homan’s upcoming UTEP visit appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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