During the Obama administration, Homan held senior leadership roles in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He first served as an assistant director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, a division of ICE, then as the deputy executive associate director of ERO and finally as the executive associate director of ERO. In 2015, Homan received the Presidential Rank Award for distinguished service alongside 42 other government executives.
The title "ICE chief" does not officially exist. Snopes interprets it as referring to the highest position within ICE, the director. Homan served as ICE director only under President Donald Trump. He did not hold that position during the Obama administration.
Throughout 2026, social media posts claimed that the "ICE chief" in former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration was awarded for a record number of deportations, whereas President Donald Trump's man in the same position was "called a Nazi" instead.
According to the posts, the double standard was even worse than it seemed because the same person held the position in both presidencies. That man, Tom Homan, now serves as Trump's "border czar" — an unofficial title for the top adviser and decision-maker on issues related to immigration and the southern border.
Snopes readers wrote in seeking clarification about Homan's history at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and whether he received an award under Obama.
We found the claim was a mixture of true and false information.
Homan never held the position of "ICE chief," a title that does not officially exist. Snopes interprets the term to mean the agency's highest-ranking official, the director. While Homan did not lead the entire agency under Obama, he held senior leadership roles at ICE, including executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations. The Washington Post described that position in 2016 as the "top enforcement job" within the agency.
Homan served as ICE director from 2017 to 2018, during Trump's first presidential term. He did not hold that position during the Obama administration.
Social media posts accurately stated that Homan received the Presidential Rank Award for distinguished service in 2015, during Obama's second term. The Post reported that the White House credited Homan's "success expanding arrests and detention beds for the recent surge in children and families fleeing violence in Central America" as justification for the award. Snopes was unable to independently verify that statement.
It is worth noting that a widely shared photo claiming to show Obama awarding Homan a medal was digitally altered. According to a 2026 memo (archived) documenting the selection process for the award, honorees receive a "framed certificate signed by the president" and a "Rank Award pin."
Homan's history
According to archived biographies of Homan available through congressional websites, he joined the Border Patrol as an agent in 1984 and later became an agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, a precursor to ICE, in 1988. Homan became the assistant district director for investigations in San Antonio, Texas, in 1999, before transferring to Dallas in the same role. When ICE was officially created in 2003, Homan was named the assistant special agent in charge of the Dallas office.
During Obama's first presidential term, Homan was named the assistant director for Enforcement and Removal Operations at ICE headquarters in 2009, promoted to deputy executive associate director at an unspecified point in time and later named executive associate director for ERO in May 2013.
According to The Washington Post, the position of executive associate director for ERO was the "top enforcement job" at ICE. The article also noted that he was "really good" at deporting people. As previously mentioned, his success in expanding arrests was reportedly cited as one reason he received the Presidential Rank Award in 2015 (more on that below).
It was only in 2017, during Trump's first term, that Homan was appointed acting director of ICE. He retired from that position in June 2018, according to CNN.
After retiring from ICE, Homan occasionally appeared on Fox News. Snopes previously reported that he also helped contribute to Project 2025, a blueprint for reshaping the federal government from the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation. The Trump administration has enacted a wide range of policies from the document.
After Trump was re-elected in 2024, he tapped Homan to serve as his "border czar." Czar is an unofficial term used to describe the president's decision-makers on certain issues, according to NPR. In this case, that's the southern border.
The Presidential Rank Award
In 2015, according to documents and websites from the Office of Personnel Management and ICE, Homan received the Presidential Rank Award for distinguished service, alongside 42 other civil-service executives (archived).
The award was created to "recognize a select group of career members of the Senior Executive Service," the highest level of non-appointed civil servants in the government, according to OPM. There are two categories of the award: the "meritorious rank" and "distinguished rank," with the distinguished rank award that Homan received being more selective.
An OPM webpage (archived) announcing the honor stated Homan was "instrumental in leading ERO at a time of extraordinary challenges and unprecedented achievements." In a news release, ICE also credited him (archived) with overseeing the removal of hundreds of thousands of people from the U.S., including "criminal aliens," and with leading expansions to detention facilities and border-enforcement operations.
The award is given to no more than than 1% of executive civil servants and is meant to recognize "sustained extraordinary accomplishment." Awardees "receive a cash award of 35 percent of their base salary," according to OPM.
According to a 2026 OPM memo detailing the selection process (archived), department and agency heads nominate senior executives for the award, with a maximum of 9% of staff eligible for nomination. OPM first conducts an initial review based on documentation submitted by department heads. Then, a smaller list of candidates receives on-site evaluations, which include background checks on the nominee's performance, "character or conduct of a potential finalist," and history of criminal activity or tax avoidance. The department heads then affirm the finalized list of nominees, assuring they "would not cause embarrassment to the agency or the Administration of the Office of the President." OPM then submits the names of finalists to the president, who makes the final decision.
Snopes reviewed the legislation, but it was unclear how involved the president must be in the final selections.