Share and Follow
As the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security undergoes a transition following the removal of Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday, questions arise about the future of the Trump administration’s deportation policies. The new nominee, Markwayne Mullin, is at the center of these discussions.
President Donald Trump has selected Markwayne Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, to take over the position left vacant by Noem. However, Mullin’s appointment is contingent upon Senate confirmation, with the leadership shift anticipated to occur by March 31.
Mullin, recognized as a firm conservative, is expected by some to bring a more pragmatic approach to immigration enforcement. This suggests a potential shift from the aggressive tactics associated with Noem’s tenure.
There has been controversy surrounding the relocation of pregnant migrant minors to Texas, with critics arguing this move is intended to prevent access to abortions.
“There’s a lot of work we can do to get the Department of Homeland Security working for the American people,” Mullin stated on Thursday.
“There’s a lot of work we can do to get the Department of Homeland Security working for the American people,” Mullin said Thursday.
Mullin, a close friend of Noem, said Thursday he was surprised by the Trump nomination and said he plans to meet with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. That includes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, who expressed concerns Thursday that much will change under Mullin’s leadership.
“The problems at ICE transcend any one individual. … It goes beyond any one person,” Schumer told reporters. “You need to straighten out the whole agency. The rot there is deep.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Mullin, a former mixed martial arts fighter, will inherit a department facing political pressure over immigration policy and a weeks-long funding gap. Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, a Democrat, has indicated that the Senate will confirm Mullin, whom he referred to on Thursday as “competent and honest.”
California U.S. Rep. Tim McClintock, a Republican and the chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, told Friday that he can understand why Trump sought to make a change at the top of DHS. However, he believes that Mullin will give the Trump administration the ability to reprioritize immigration with what he called “cooperative states”.
McClintock believes that Noem accomplished a great deal during her tenure, including the 500,000 dangerous migrant criminals who were deported under her watch. However, he believes that Mullin will bring a different leadership style than his predecessor.
“I’ve worked with (Millin) in the past he’s very pragmatic and very practical,” McClintock said. “He’s a no-nonsense guy and I think that’s going to translate to better management of the department.”
But besides needing to win the approval of lawmakers, Mullin will begin the transition of working more closely with federal immigration agents and officers who are carrying out the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The aggressive tactics of federal agents working in places like Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis have been called into question, especially in terms of the use of non-lethal munitions against protesters during federal immigration enforcement operations.
That was the case in Minneapolis, where White House border czar Tom Homan replaced then-Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, who was removed from his role and sent back to his previous job as a Border Patrol sector chief in Southern California. Homan was seen as a departure from Bovino’s public-facing approach, which included viral videos of him deploying tear gas on protesters.
Sources told that Homan represented a more traditional approach to immigration enforcement rather than the aggressive style pushed by Bovino and Noem.
Art Del Cueto, the former vice president of the Border Patrol union, told on Friday that he believes Mullin’s approach to keeping the U.S.-Mexico border secure is what is needed.
Del Cueto says the DHS secretary has a big effect on what happens at the border and believes that Trump’s replacement of Noem will work well with those on the ground assigned to provide border security.
“I’m very hopeful, you’re having an individual who is common-sense, no-nonsense (and) a straight shooter,” Del Cueto said. “He’s going to let you know if there’s a problem; you’re going to know about it.”
Charles Marino, a former DHS advisor, told Friday that this week’s drama surrounding Noem only added to the pressure facing the federal agency that is already shut down as part of the ongoing partial government shutdown.
“The (DHS) workforce now has the added concern following the removal of the secretary by the president about whether or not ineffective and misplaced leadership has been the cause of the department’s recent problems,” Marino said.
Asked whether he expected Mullin to take a different path in leading the agency, Marino replied, “Noem like to fly close to the sun and got burned. I expect to see the opposite approach from Senator Mullin with less show and more go toward the mission.”
Despite Noem’s ouster on Thursday, some Democrats are still calling for accountability from Noem. The soon-to-be former DHS Secretary could face a possible perjury investigation after a series of Congressional hearings that sources say led to her reassignment within the administration.
One source told Thursday that Noem’s testimony on Capitol Hill was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” and that her dismissal was a long time coming.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal says lawmakers plan to examine whether Noem misled Congress during testimony about a $220 million border security advertising campaign she claimed had been approved by President Trump.
The president has since said he was unaware of the costly campaign, and sources tell the ads became the final straw leading to Noem’s removal.
Noem also faced scrutiny over testimony about the role of top adviser Corey Lewandowski in approving DHS contracts something that Connecticut U.S. Rep. Richard Blumenthal says he and his fellow Democrats can prove happened.
Blumenthal says lawmakers plan to examine whether Noem misled Congress during testimony about a $220 million border security advertising campaign she claimed had been approved by Trump.
“Her firing doesn’t absolve her or relieve her of potential liability for perjury, and we are going to pursue an investigation of the evidence that she lied, because it relates to corruption in the administration,” Blumenthal told the New York Times.
Trump has since said he was unaware of the costly campaign, which sources said was the “last straw” for Noem, who reportedly had been on thin ice with the president for months, sources previously told .