Trump’s immigration enforcers Tom Homan and Kristi Noem at war as up to a dozen ICE field chiefs are ousted

A fierce power struggle within the Department of Homeland Security has cost up to a dozen jobs and sparked sweeping changes within Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership.

Donald Trump’s handpicked border czar Tom Homan, along with his right-hand man, ICE Director Todd Lyons, are understood to be at odds with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem over her approach to tackling the illegal immigration crisis.

Homan and Lyons want to pour their resources into tracking down convicted criminals who are living in the United States illegally, as well as people who have already been served final deportation orders.

Their targeted approach to removing the worst of the worst has frustrated Noem, along with her senior adviser Corey Lewandowski and Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, according to Fox News.

Noem is instead instead advocating for a broader and more aggressive approach in an effort to boost the number of reportable deportations each day.

She has made a point to share statistics of successful deportations amid pressure from Trump to rid America of as many as 1,500 illegal immigrants per day.

But the growing friction between the two sides has sparked a mass leadership shakeup within at least eight ICE field offices across the nation.

As many as 12 senior leaders within the field offices are being turfed and replaced with Border Patrol officials, in a sign that Noem’s allies are seizing more power within ICE.

Homan and Lyons want to pour their resources into tracking down convicted criminals who are living in the United States illegally, as well as people who have already been served final deportation orders

Noem is instead advocating for a broader and more aggressive approach in an effort to boost the number of reportable deportations each day

Homan maintains the focus must be on hunting down criminals who are residing in America illegally, like the Venezuelan migrants deported to Honduras in March (pictured)

The impacted field offices include Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, El Paso, New Orleans, Portland and Philadelphia.

‘ICE started off with the worst of the worst, knowing every target they are hitting, but since Border Patrol came to LA in June, we’ve lost our focus, going too hard, too fast, with limited prioritization,’ one senior DHS official told Fox.

‘It’s getting numbers, but at what cost?’

A second official described the mood as ‘tense’ and ‘combative’ amid fears that the broader approach could alienate the public.

‘ICE is arresting criminal aliens. They [Border Patrol] are hitting Home Depots and car washes,’ the insider said.

ICE falls under the DHS remit, which is run by Noem, but Trump specifically appointed Homan as his ‘border czar’ when he returned to office as part of his pledge to clamp down on immigration.

Homan previously served as acting ICE director, and Trump said ‘Homan will be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin.’

The leadership purge marks the latest upheaval to rock the department.

A separate report last week suggested Noem was upset with Homan’s frequent television appearances because she felt he had ‘gotten out front’ of her on certain immigration issues.

Meanwhile, Noem is focused on the numbers, and is willing to track down any illegal immigrant, rather than specifically focusing on criminals, insiders say

ICE agents fear Noem’s approach of raiding street vendors (pictured) and people at their places of work will alienate Americans

ICE has been ramping up arrests in the streets, at places like Home Depot and on street vendors (pictured), whereas Homan wants to focus on targeting criminals and the worst of the worst

An administration official said, according to the New York Magazine report, that Noem ‘tried to put a comms blackout on him.’

Trump was reportedly so annoyed by the feud with Noem and Lewandowski that he called them into the Oval Office to raise his concerns.

But the department quickly shut down the rumors, insisting there was ‘no truth to that.’

Last week, the White House offered its full support of Homan after it emerged he had been investigated for accepting $50,000 from undercover agents posing as businesspeople during an FBI operation last year.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized Homan’s encounter with the undercover agents as an effort by the Biden administration to ‘entrap one of the president’s top allies and supporters, someone who they knew very well would be taking a government position.’

‘The White House and the president stand by Tom Homan 100 percent because he did absolutely nothing wrong, and he is a brave public servant who has done a phenomenal job in helping the president shut down the border,’ she said.

Around the same time, Jonathan Karl alleged in his book ‘Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America’ that Trump only chose Noem to lead the department as a favor to Lewandowski, who served as his campaign manager and is now a close ally of Noem.

‘I did it for Corey,’ Trump allegedly said when his shocked allies asked why he picked Noem. ‘It’s the only thing Corey asked me for.’

Homan reportedly believes the priority must remain with hunting down criminals who are in the United States illegally, like the Venezuelan gang members sent to CECOT prison in El Salvador (pictured)

A new book ‘Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America’ alleged that Trump only chose Noem to lead the department as a favor to Lewandowski (pictured), who served as his campaign manager and is now a close ally of Noem

Since her appointment, Noem has earned the moniker ‘ICE Barbie’ for her camera-ready, stylized militaristic outfits during publicized immigration raids.

She has decorated agency walls with framed photos of herself in rugged, tough-looking photo-ops and is frequently seen wearing the forest-green Border Patrol uniform and strutting through border checkpoints in tight jeans and a CBP cap.

She also sparked controversy earlier this month after it was revealed that DHS spent $172 million on two Gulfstream private jets for her use.

The purchase came off as ill-timed to critics, as it took place in the midst of a government shutdown which has left hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed and caused mass layoffs.

A DHS official said the department’s existing jet was more than 20 years old and ‘well beyond its operational lifespan for a corporate aircraft.’

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin railed against suggestions that Homan and Noem were at a crossroads, stating: ‘While we have no personnel changes to announce at this time, the Trump administration remains laser focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country.’

And White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Daily Mail last week ‘the president’s entire team’ – including Homan and Secretary Noem – are all in lockstep.

‘They are implementing the president’s policy agenda, and the tremendous results securing the border and deporting criminal illegal aliens speak for themselves.’

Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons (left) is backing Homan, while Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino (right) is backing Noem

There are fears within ICE that going after immigrants at their places of employment with zero criminal record is sending the wrong message. Pictured: Federal agents detain a woman as her son cries beside her

Efforts have particularly ramped up this month in Chicago after protestors repeatedly gathered at the local ICE facility.

At the ICE facility, some protesters have aimed to block vehicles from going in or out of the area in recent weeks, part of growing pushback to a surge of immigration enforcement that began in early September.

Called ‘Midway Blitz,’ the DHS announced Friday that it has resulted in more than 1,000 immigration arrests.

Federal agents have repeatedly fired tear gas, pepper balls and other projectiles toward crowds in response and at least five people have faced federal charges after being arrested in those clashes.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker lashed out at the Trump administration for the way federal agents, many of them masked to hide their faces, have treated protesters over the past month.

He slammed officers’ ‘inhumane’ tactics including slamming protesters to the ground, arresting a reporter and firing chemical agents into the crowds.

‘It is clear federal agents cannot be trusted to act to protect the safety and constitutional rights of the public,’ the Democrat said.

Pritzker also ordered state agencies to coordinate possible action to ‘hold federal agents accountable’ for a raid on an apartment building in the city’s South Shore neighborhood last week in which residents, regardless of status and including children, were detained for hours, some handcuffed.

The department maintains both Homan and Noem are ‘in lockstep’ to achieve Trump’s agenda to rid America of criminal illegal aliens

Children were separated from their parents, while officers smashed windows and tore through apartments, leaving piles of debris in the hallways.

Homeland Security officials said 37 undocumented immigrants were arrested, some with criminal histories and two allegedly members of a criminal Venezuelan gang.

According to the DHS, since Trump returned to office as many as two million illegal immigrants have been removed or opted to self deport.

An estimated 400,000 have been rounded up and deported, while 1.6million have left the country of their own volition.

‘The numbers don’t lie: 2 million illegal aliens have been removed or self-deported in just 250 days – proving that President Trump’s policies and Secretary Noem’s leadership are working and making American communities safe,’ McLaughlin said last week.

‘Ramped-up immigration enforcement targeting the worst of the worst is removing more and more criminal illegal aliens off our streets every day and is sending a clear message to anyone else in this country illegally: Self-deport or we will arrest and deport you.’