Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin smacked down Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s assertion that most ICE detainees are not a public “threat.”
During a House Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement hearing last week, Jayapal made the breathless claim that President Donald Trump’s administration is focusing on the wrong illegal aliens during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action.
“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,” she said. “That’s because when DHS expends all of its energy to go after parents, longtime friends, neighbors, when [Homeland Security Investigations] agents who are supposed to investigate serious crime and human trafficking are instead being moved to street sweeps and riding along with local police for random traffic stops, we are less safe, not more safe.”
Mullin pushed back on that claim on Fox News’Â Saturday in America:
“Well, all the Angel Families that lost their loved ones were 100% preventable because that illegal shouldn’t be in our country to begin with. A criminal is someone that chose to break our laws, so 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 or northern border, you’re still a criminal. We’re still going to arrest you,” he said. “And when you have a car accident and you came into this country illegally and Democrats want to say you’re not a criminal and you kill somebody, yes, you were a criminal, and now you created — now you ruined somebody else’s life and now you’re a murderer at the same time. It’s political for them. They want to say this every day. We do go after the worst of the worst every day.”
“When we arrest them with a warrant, they’re typically never by themselves; in fact, very seldom are they by themselves. They’re either at a house with three or four more people or in a vehicle with three or four more people. We make contact with you and you’re in this country illegally; we want to make sure we know who you are. Because 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. It’s time for you to go home, and that’s what we’re gonna do,” he added.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
- Grassley has an unusual idea for bringing diesel prices down — Trump isn’t sold yet - September 21, 2026
- Jayapal challenges DHS on who ICE is arresting, gets a little public smackdown - September 21, 2026
- Attorney for migrant shot by ICE disputes government’s account of what happened - September 21, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.