With Democrats having secured majorities in both the House and Senate during the midterm elections, the administration’s immigration enforcement apparatus shows no sign of retreat.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin used a Fox News appearance Tuesday to signal that the Republican midterm rout would have no bearing on border policy.
Mullin, speaking on “The Ingraham Angle,” framed the deportation operation as an accelerating effort targeting the most dangerous individuals in the country first.
“We haven’t slowed down at all. We’ve re-prioritize what we’re doing by going after the worst of the worst, by getting the murderers and the rapists and child predators and drug bankers and cartel members,” he said.
The agency is currently removing approximately 3,600 people per day, a pace Mullin indicated he has no intention of moderating despite the shift in congressional power.
Any prospect of amnesty as a bargaining chip in future negotiations with the newly empowered Democratic majority was dismissed outright by the DHS secretary.
“Amnesty will never be on the table,” Mullin said, responding to host Laura Ingraham’s question about President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Republicans explore cooperation with Democrats.
Mullin was equally dismissive of the idea that cross-party legislative collaboration on immigration could produce workable outcomes, citing what he described as fundamental bad faith from the opposition.
“You can’t trust the Democrat Party we’ve been working with at all. You can’t, because nothing’s enough for them,” he said.
The secretary also pointed to the Democratic Socialists of America as a driving ideological force within the Democratic Party, arguing the group’s ambitions extend to dismantling his own agency.
“You want to defund the country that is the agency that’s tasked with keeping our homeland safe? Doesn’t make any sense,” he said, after accusing the DSA of seeking to defund the Department of Homeland Security.
Mullin also raised the prospect of a presidential veto as the administration’s backstop against any legislation it finds unacceptable, making clear Trump is prepared to use that power.
“The president has made it very clear he controls the veto. So if they were to send something over that the president and the Republicans don’t agree with, he can veto it, and he will veto it,” he said.
The remarks come as the White House has already faced internal tension after Trump floated a potential deal with Democrats on undocumented immigrants, a move that angered parts of the Republican base.
Mullin grounded his defense of strict enforcement in a national security argument, contending that border control and domestic safety are fundamentally inseparable concerns.
“You can’t have a secured nation and you can’t have a secured city if you don’t know who’s in your country,” he said.
