What Trump's 'border tsar' stands for

Hello. Today Rachel Looker has a deep dive on Tom Homan, the 'border tsar' named by Donald Trump to carry out its immigration policy. In Baku, capital of the oil-rich Caucasian nation Azerbaijan, our climate reporter Georgina Rannard is covering COP29 amid the smell of petrol. We're also reporting on the Church of England, Chinese dumplings, and Polish pastries.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED

How Trump's 'border tsar' will approach immigration

Homan, 62, started his career as a police officer in New York state. Credit: Reuters

Veteran immigration official Tom Homan will be in charge of the country's borders following Trump's inauguration in January. All eyes will be on how he plans to cut down on illegal immigration into the US - a flagship policy of Trump's election campaign.

What is Tom Homan's background?

He is an ex-policeman and a former acting director for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice). Homan played a role in Trump’s controversial "zero tolerance" policy, which separated thousands of migrant children from their parents. The policy sparked backlash when children were sent to shelters while their parents were prosecuted with no plans to reunite them.

What would his plans look like?

It is not yet clear how his role as "border tsar" will take shape, as managing immigration involves coordination between several government agencies. In October, prior to Trump's election, he said he would handle deportations by prioritising "public safety threats" and "national security threats", before moving to deport non-criminal migrants who are in the country illegally.

How would that differ from today?

Homan's approach would reverse Biden administration policies that direct Ice to focus on deporting serious criminals, national security threats and recent border crossers. The current Biden policy helps protect undocumented immigrants who have been living in the US and have not committed crimes.

THE BIG PICTURE

Is this tiny Mauritian island a spy station?

Agalega would be an ideal location for India to monitor marine traffic. Credit: Billy Henri

Until recently, just 350 people lived on Agalega, two small islands covering 25 sq km, in the Indian Ocean. But in 2015, Mauritius signed a deal enabling India to build a vast 3,000m runway and a big new jetty. Some islanders fear this could grow into a fully-fledged military presence, while experts say a "surveillance station" seems to be building up.

And finally... in China

In June, four university students cycled for 50km (30 miles) from the central China cities of Zhengzhou to Kaifeng in June to try guantangbao, a type of soup dumpling. The social media trend that followed, “Night Ride to Kaifeng", proved too popular on Friday, when thousands of young people on bicycles seeking to try the delicacy brought traffic to a halt.