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On Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin testified before a Senate appropriations subcommittee in defense of the agency’s $63 billion budget request.
Democratic senators grilled Mullin about the budget, as well as Mullin’s threats to shut down screenings of international flights in sanctuary cities. They also questioned whether he has implemented DHS reforms since the start of his tenure.
Mullin became DHS secretary in March, after Kristi Noem was fired in the wake of backlash over immigration agents’ fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. Mullin vowed that he would keep DHS out of the headlines — but the agency’s abuses have only continued to mount.
In his opening statement, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) spoke about DHS’s violations of the law and of court orders, the expansion of the budget to over 10 times its pre-Trump budget, and the ties between private companies like GEO Group and the Trump administration.
When questioning Mullin directly, Murphy asked, “Can you commit to us that if a court judges something ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is doing, something DHS is doing as illegal or unconstitutional, [and] tells you to stop, that you will comply with the court order?”
Mullin refused to answer directly, saying, “I will tell you that we will never break the constitution, and we’re not going to break the law, but we’re going to enforce the nation’s laws. We’re gonna enforce the laws that you guys passed, and that we implement.”
Murphy responded, “But that doesn’t sound like the same thing as committing that you will obey a court order…. I mean, I think it’s an easy thing to say. Will you or will you not implement court orders?”
“If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that,” Mullin said. “But we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law.”
“So you’ll pick and choose which court orders you obey based upon whether you believe that appointee to have a political agenda?” Murphy said.
“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Mullin responded.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana’s line of questioning took an entirely different tone, essentially praising DHS and ICE. Kennedy claimed in his questions that former President Joe Biden “ignored the immigration laws” with the “encouragement” of some members of Congress, to which Mullin agreed.
Kennedy said that Democrats “believe in open borders,” to which Mullin added that it’s difficult to understand why Democrats “would allow that many people to come in and turn our streets into lawless cities and lawless towns.”
In reality, Biden deported some 4 million people from the U.S. during his tenure, and followed in the footsteps of Donald Trump’s first presidency rather than breaking from it. He also increased funding for ICE and helped expand ICE programs.
Kennedy and Mullin both made a point to smear protesters at Delaney Hall immigrant jail in Newark, New Jersey. Mullin denied that Delaney is overcrowded and that those detained are deprived of adequate medical care. In yet another threat, Mullin said that his agency will be combing through video footage of the protests, telling protesters: “We will eventually find you and arrest you and charge you.”
The protestors at Delaney Hall have been demonstrating in solidarity with immigrant detainees who are on hunger and labor strike, many of whom are being imprisoned in violation of their right to due process.
Mullin then painted ICE agents as heroes, saying that agents “love doing their job. They don’t do it for the money, they do it because they’re called to do it.”
During Tuesday’s hearing, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) asked Mullin about reforms to DHS in the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the increasing abuses of ICE since Trump expanded the agency, saying she has yet to see any changes.
“Even now, we are seeing some outrageous proposals. You plan to withdraw CBP [Customs and Border Protection] officers from airports in cities that don’t roll over for Trump,” she said, referring to the threats Mullin repeated last week after protests continued at Delaney Hall.
Her questions focused on emphasizing the need for reforms. But while Democrats have pushed for DHS to implement reforms to ICE before approving its budget requests, activists have called these reforms — which include requiring ICE agents to unmask and wear body cameras — “toothless” measures that uphold an oppressive status quo.
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