Mullin says ICE agents need judicial warrants to arrest suspects at home or work. He also said he regrets calling a U.S. citizen killed by officers ‘deranged.’
Markwayne Mullin clarifies ICE stance at DHS confirmation hearing
Markwayne Mullin answered questions on how he would handle ICE deployments to cities in his DHS confirmation hearing.
WASHINGTON – Sen. Markwayne Mullin vows to take a number of conciliatory steps governing immigration enforcement if he is confirmed as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security but the White House contends it isn’t softening President Donald Trump’s crackdown.
The Oklahoma Republican’s nomination to succeed Kristi Noem offers an opportunity to reset immigration policy after the department has been roiled by massive protests against enforcement surges and the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens.
Mullin committed to having Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers obtain judicial warrants before entering homes or businesses to arrest suspects. He aims to make ICE more a transportation service than front-line pursuer of suspects. He pledged to consult local officials before opening new detention facilities. And he said he regretted calling Alex Pretti “deranged” before the investigation concluded into his fatal shooting by immigration authorities.
Mullin’s arrival would come after the announced retirement of Border Patrol official Greg Bovino, who oversaw enforcement surges that sparked protests in Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, took control of the enforcement surge in Minneapolis and dramatically reduced staffing there. Noem previously agreed to have immigration officers wear body-cameras on duty.
But Trump made immigration enforcement a top domestic priority and the White House said nothing would change, despite a Wall Street Journal article reporting that Trump was rethinking his approach to immigration.
“Nobody is changing this Administration’s immigration enforcement agenda,” spokesperson Abigail Jackson said “If you’re in the country illegally, you’re subject to deportation – and President Trump’s highest enforcement priority remains the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities.”
As the Senate prepares to vote on Mullin’s confirmation, here is what to know about his approach to immigration enforcement:
Mullin says ICE agents need judicial warrants to enter homes, businesses
Mullin said ICE agents won’t enter homes or businesses without a judicial warrant unless chasing a suspect inside, a reversal of Noem’s policy.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, complained about 28 cases of ICE agents “breaking into” homes without warrants to arrest suspects, “bashing down the door, terrorizing children.”
Mullin said he had made his policy decision clear to the staff.
“We will not enter a home or place of business without a judicial warrant, unless we’re pursuing an individual who runs into a place of business or a house,” Mullin said.
Mullin regrets comments about Pretti but not Good
Mullin said he regrets calling Pretti “a deranged individual that came in to cause max damage” on social media soon after Pretti was killed by immigration officials.
“Those words probably should have been retracted. I shouldn’t have said that and (as) secretary I wouldn’t,” Mullin said. “The investigation is ongoing.”
Video footage of the shooting showed Pretti was observing immigration enforcement and was trying to help a woman knocked down by immigration officials when he was shot repeatedly. Pretti did not reach for his gun.
But Mullin stood by comments that Good’s shooting was “absolutely” justified. He said “an officer had to make a split decision” and that Good’s car was “running towards him.”
“At that point that car becomes a lethal weapon,” he said.
The Justice Department refused to open an investigation into the actions of the agent who shot Good, causing a series of resignations at the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis. State investigators say federal authorities have blocked them from accessing evidence, hindering a possible use-of-force investigation.
Mullin seeks to restore public confidence in DHS
Mullin repeatedly told senators at his confirmation hearing March 18 that he wants to “restore” confidence in the Department of Homeland Security and seeks to avoid controversy.
“I hope that I’m not on the news six months from now every day,” he said. “I hope DHS is just able to be laser focused on doing their job and it isn’t controversial about taking care of the homeland.”
He added: “I hope people have confidence in our agency again. And I’m going to work every day to restore that.”
Mullin reassures senators that immigrants seeking legal residency can stay
Sen. Andy Kim, D-New Jersey, asked Mullin about a report that spouses of military servicemembers and veterans were arrested by immigration officers on their way to interviews for their permanent-residency documents nicknamed green cards.
Mullin said if immigrants are going through the process of legally residing in the United States, “we’re going to continue working with those individuals.”
Kim also said people are worried about being arrested at hospitals, schools, churches and polling places. He said he instructed his own father-in-law on what to do if detained returning to the country.
“It’s causing an enormous amount of concern,” Kim said.
Mullin said only citizens should be voting, but that immigration officers would be near polling places only if pursuing a specific suspect.
“If we’re at a polling area, it’s because of a specific threat,” Mullin said.
Mullins would lead DHS after departure of Bovino at Border Patrol
Bovino, 55, whose aggressive enforcement of immigration laws became a lightning rod for protests nationwide, confirmed to Reuters on March 16 he planned to retire at the end of the month.
Under his leadership, masked immigration officers clashed with residents while searching for immigrants without legal authorization to be in the country. Confrontational immigration sweeps in Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities where mayors and governors fought him in federal court.
“The greatest honor of my entire life was to work alongside Border Patrol agents on the border and in the interior of the United States in some of the most challenging conditions the agency has ever faced,” Bovino told the conservative news outlet Breitbart.
Homan seeks to focus on the ‘worst of the worst’
Homan, a former acting director of ICE during Trump’s first term, became his border czar for the second term.
Homan traveled to Minnesota in the aftermath of the killings of Alex Pretti, an intensive-care nurse, and Renee Nicole Good, a poet and mother of three. The deaths triggered nationwide protests and intense scrutiny on the tactics of agents carrying out the administration’s deportation agenda.
Homan contends the administration prioritizes deporting “the worst of the worst,” people who have been convicted or accused of serious crimes.
But nearly three-quarters of immigration detainees in February had no criminal convictions, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which tracks government records.
Homan has argued that so-called sanctuary cities and states, where local officials resist cooperating with federal immigration authorities, force officers to chase suspects through their communities where other undocumented immigrants are often also apprehended.
Mullin aims for greater cooperation between ICE and local authorities
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Michigan, said “the trust is gone” with ICE because of the shooting deaths, teargassing of protesters and searching homes without judicial warrants.
Mullin said he would aim to work with greater cooperation with local authorities, picking up suspects at jails rather than pursuing them through communities.
“I do believe there is a better approach I think working with municipalities,” Mullin said.
“I would love to see ICE become a transport more than the front line,” Mullin added. “If we could get back into just simply with law enforcement, we’re going to them and picking up these criminals from their jail.”
Mullin said local governments would be reimbursed for confining suspects.
“Partnership is important,” Mullin said. “There is an approach that can happen but we got to have partners.”