President-elect Donald Trump’s new border czar has warned migrants in the US illegally to “self-deport” ahead of the next Trump administration.

On Monday, Trump appointed Tom Homan, who served as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the previous Trump administration, as border czar, charging him with curbing illegal immigration.

That same day, Homan appeared on Fox News, where host Sean Hannity asked him if there would be a “grace period” in which migrants living illegally in the US would be given a few months to get their affairs in order before leaving the country under the Trump administration.

“Criminals and gang members get no reprieve,” Homan replied. “While we prioritize the threats to public safety and the threats to national security, if you want to deport yourself, deport yourself, because again, we know who you are, and we will come find you.”

“So if you want to deport yourself, that’s fine. But criminals and gang members get no favors from this government. You came to this country illegally, which is a crime. You have committed crimes against American citizens, some heinous crimes. You don’t get a grace period. So we’re coming for you,” he continued.

Homan added that he was “all in favor” of self-deportation of migrants living in the U.S. illegally who are not criminals or gang members.

“But for those others, the non-criminals, you want to deport yourself, I’m all for that, because if you deport yourself, they can get everything in order – their family business, if they have houses or whatever. that in order and leave with their families together,” he said.

One of Trump’s key campaign promises was to organize the largest domestic deportation in American history. He made similar promises when he ran for president in 2016, but deportations never topped 350,000 during his administration. By comparison, then-President Barack Obama carried out 432,000 deportations in 2013, the highest annual total since records began.

Trump has also said he will use the National Guard to round up migrants and invoke the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law that allows the president to deport any non-citizen from a country with which the US is at war .

Newsweek has contacted the Trump campaign for comment on whether the president-elect supports self-deportation of migrants.

In addition to his role in Trump’s first administration, Homan contributed to Project 2025, the conservative agenda that Trump distanced himself from during the campaign.

Project 2025 proposes that ICE detain undocumented immigrants with records of felonies, violent crimes, drunken driving, prior deportations, or any other crime deemed by law to be a threat to national security or public safety.

The plan also aims to abolish T and U visas, which grant legal status to victims of serious crimes and human trafficking who support law enforcement. In addition, Project 2025 calls for the repeal of Temporary Protected Status, a program that allows migrants from dangerous regions to live legally in the US. Ending TPS would impact nearly 1.2 million people who hold or qualify for this status.

During Trump’s first administration, TPS was paused for about 400,000 migrants, but after protracted litigation, the Biden administration reinstated and expanded the program for all affected countries.

In an interview with CBS News last month, Homan said that under Trump’s mass deportation plan, “families could be deported together.” He also said the government’s deportation efforts would be targeted.

“It’s not going to be a massive cleanup of neighborhoods. It’s not going to be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous,” Homan told CBS.

During the first Trump administration, Homan oversaw a record number of children in U.S. custody. In 2018, 12,800 immigrant children were cared for by the Department of Health and Human Services, CNN reported.

In 2017, Homan announced that his office would arrest undocumented people who came forward to care for migrant children — a policy that previous administrations have avoided.

“You can’t hide in the shadows,” Homan said at a border security event in Washington, emphasizing that parents must stand “shoulder to shoulder” with their children in court.

“We are going to at least involve the parents in immigration proceedings,” he continued, adding: “Is that cruel? I don’t think so.’

That same year, he told Congress that migrants living in the U.S. illegally “should be afraid.”