Starmer should ‘catch and release' migrants, says US border tsar
Tom Homan encouraged the Prime Minister to mimic the pugnacious tactics of the Trump admiration by ruthlessly catching and deporting migrants that arrive on Britain's shores.
'Take a page out of the Trump playbook. Two months ago, we had the lowest numbers of crossings in the history of the nation,' Mr Homan told The Telegraph.
'The next month, we broke that record, and this month we're gonna break it again. I would simply look at the Trump playbook...catch and release.
'If they enter the country illegally, they should be detained and put in front of the judge. And if they get voted to be removed, remove them.'
Mr Homan, a former police officer who has also served as acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is the public face of Mr Trump's operation to deport as many as a million people in a year.
So far, he and his team have deported around 207,000 illegal migrants who illegally crossed America's southern border with Mexico onto US soil in the last three months, a new record.
In Britain, more than 25,000 people have crossed the English Channel to the UK in 2025, the highest total this early in the year.
'There has to be consequences. One of the reasons we have the most secure border in the history of this nation.. [is because] we also send a message to the whole world that there's gonna be consequences,' Mr Homan added.
Since returning to the Oval Office, Mr Trump has effectively shut down the US's southern border and ordered the round-up and deportation of undocumented migrants.
The National Guard and US Marines have been called in to quell protests and support immigration agents carrying out the round-ups in cities like Los Angeles.
In Britain, figures such as Nigel Farage, the Reform Party leader, have repeatedly accused Sir Keir of failing to follow a similar course.
'You can't have strong national security if you don't have border security,' Mr Homan added.
'President Trump has the most secure border of my lifetime. I suggest your government, look at what Trump did and take a page out of his playbook and I guarantee it's going to be the same outcome.'
Fresh protests erupted in Britain this week amid growing frustration with the decision to house illegal migrants in taxpayer funded hotels.
Sir Keir has pledged to end their use by 2029 amid concerns that they are costing taxpayers £4m a day and causing tensions in communities.
Tensions over the hotels reached boiling point last month when demonstrations broke out at a hotel in Epping after a migrant tried to kiss a teenager.
Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, has told the Cabinet the Government must take concerns about immigration seriously and do more to alleviate them.
Mr Trump's administration has grown increasingly concerned with migration in Europe. JD Vance, the vice-president, accused the continent of engaging in 'civilisational suicide' by refusing to control its borders.
Offering the Prime Minister some advice, Mr Trump told him he would have a better chance of holding back the threat posed by Mr Farage if he made it a priority to tackle immigration.
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