President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration plan will mean a “cost savings” for the American people, former acting ICE Director Tom Homan told Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, responding to a Wall Street Journal warning that carrying out the largest mass deportation effort in history could carry a hefty price tag.

“(The Biden administration) is paying for free plane tickets across the country, free hotel rooms for $500 dollars a night, free education, free medical care, and that’s forever,” he said.

“President Trump’s plan will save taxpayers money in the long run…They (the Biden administration) are paying $500 a night for hotel rooms in New York City. Meanwhile, there are empty ICE beds for $127 a night, so President Trump’s plans will save taxpayers money in the long run.”

DONALD TRUMP DECLARES THE COUNTRY IS BEING ‘POISONED’ BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AS VICTIMS OF HURRICANE HELENE SUFFER

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media after voting at a polling station at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center on March 19, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Homan and other top voices on immigration have been critical of the Biden-Harris administration over the past four years as illegal migrants have crossed in record numbers and strained resources in communities across the US.

Under their tenure, areas like New York City, Boston and Chicago have become hotbeds for migrants. In New York City, for example, the once-iconic Roosevelt Hotel became synonymous with the second Ellis Island when it turned into a migrant processing center and housed illegal immigrants to the rafters.

Trump made immigration an integral part of his campaign, reemphasizing his push for a border wall and mass deportation that he pushed for during his previous campaigns.

The Wall Street Journal wrote Friday about Trump’s plan, which could include an emergency declaration on the border, wall construction and deportation.

“A crucial short-term priority is finding the money to pay for this. An estimate from the American Immigration Council, a liberal immigration group, estimates that an operation to deport the total number of people living in the U.S. illegally could cost the past $968 billion. more than a decade, or about $88 billion per year,” the article said.

‘LIBERATION DAY’: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ON BORDER SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION

Asylum-seeking migrants await processing by U.S. Border Patrol after crossing from Mexico at a makeshift camp next to the U.S. border wall in Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on December 13, 2023. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“Any deportation effort will require enormous resources to hire more federal agents to identify and arrest immigrants, dedicate space to detain them and purchase aircraft to fly them to other countries.”

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Scott Bessent, CEO of Key Square Capital Management, who appeared with Homan on Sunday Morning Futures, also emphasized that the status quo is more expensive than Trump’s alternative.

“Let’s talk about the human cost. We have 100,000 fentanyl deaths a year because of the porous border. We have the increased crime. We have the underlying fear that the American people have. You can’t put a price on that,” said he. said.

“But I will also tell you that what we’re going to do here… Donald Trump has orchestrated the greatest political comeback in history, and I think we’re on the cusp of a golden age in economics in the next four years. where we can have a growth agenda, where we deregulate, lower energy prices, lower interest rates, and that will drive growth like we haven’t seen in years.”