Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sharply rejected Rep. Pramila Jayapal's claim that the majority of people arrested by the Department of Homeland Security pose no threat to public safety, defending the agency's enforcement priorities and arguing that illegal immigration itself is a crime that warrants removal.
In an interview on «Saturday in America,» Mullin said DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement remain focused on targeting high-risk individuals to keep American communities safe. «If we're going to have national security in this country, we [need to] know everybody that's entered this country. And so, I'm not going to release you back into the public once we know that you entered this country illegally,» Mullin said. «It's time for you to go home.»
Mullin also pointed to families who have lost loved ones to crimes committed by illegal immigrants, saying those deaths are «100% preventable, because that illegal shouldn't be in our country to begin with.» His comments came after Jayapal, the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, argued during a hearing last week that enforcement under the Trump administration has increasingly targeted immigrants without criminal convictions.
«For the first time this summer, the majority of people that DHS arrested were people who pose absolutely no threat to public safety, and the number of people with criminal convictions who are arrested by ICE actually decreased — decreased, not increased,» Jayapal said. She added that when DHS diverts resources to go after parents, longtime friends and neighbors, and when Homeland Security Investigations agents are moved to street sweeps and traffic stops, «we are less safe, not more safe.»
The dispute unfolds against a backdrop of intensified immigration enforcement. ICE arrested nearly 51,000 illegal immigrants nationwide in August, the highest monthly total on record, according to DHS. The department also says ICE has deported more than 2,000 known or suspected terrorists since Trump took office. DHS regularly publicizes arrests and deportations involving illegal immigrants convicted of crimes including murder, child pornography, sexual assault and drug trafficking.
Mullin dismissed Jayapal's characterization as political. «It's political for them. They want to say this every day,» he said. He argued that anyone who crosses the border illegally is a criminal regardless of subsequent conduct. «When you decide you're going to break our immigration policies, and you're going to cut the line, you're going to step across our southern border, you're going to step across our northern border. You're still a criminal. We're still gonna arrest you,» he said.
The secretary also rejected the idea that immigrants without criminal convictions should be exempt from enforcement, saying that a person who enters the country legally but later commits a fatal crime is still a criminal. «When you have a car accident, and you came… into this country legally, and the Democrats want to say, you're not a criminal and you kill somebody. Yes, you were a criminal and now… you ruined somebody else's life, and now you're a murderer at the same time,» Mullin said.
Jayapal's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The exchange highlights the ongoing political battle over immigration enforcement as the Trump administration ramps up arrests and deportations, with DHS defending its tactics and Democratic critics arguing they undermine public safety by diverting resources from serious crimes.