Trump grows frustrated with Homeland Security Secretary Mullin

ICE daily arrests reach 1,500 to 2,000 under Mullin

President Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin after a series of off-message remarks that angered many of the president’s outside allies, according to people familiar with the matter. A senior administration official said Trump has no plans to fire Mullin.

Trump appointed Mullin, a close ally from the Senate, to lead the Department of Homeland Security after firing Kristi Noem in March. At the time, Trump told advisers he had tired of infighting and drama at the department, and Mullin told associates his marching orders were to keep the agency out of the news. More than four months into his tenure, the president has soured on him, viewing him as weak and off message, the people said.

The frustration reached a peak in early August when Mullin, speaking to the National Governors Association in Oklahoma City, said that while the narrative that immigration “steals American jobs is true in some industries, it’s not true for all industries,” and suggested immigration could help make up for low labor-force participation rates in some areas. The comments drew immediate backlash from Trump’s most vocal outside backers, who saw them as out of step with the administration’s push to deport as many immigrants as possible and reduce overall immigration numbers to the U.S. Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer who speaks to Trump regularly, called for the president to fire Mullin, writing on social media that he has “done absolutely nothing to increase the rate of mass deportations.” Hours after his remarks, Mullin posted on social media: “NO amnesty for illegal aliens. Ever.”

The episode followed several other decisions that put Mullin at odds with the president. After two back-to-back fatal shootings of immigrants in the span of a week, Mullin temporarily halted most vehicle stops by federal immigration officials; Trump reversed the policy a day later in a social-media post. A senior administration official said Trump was annoyed that he did not learn about the policy change ahead of time.

Trump was also frustrated that Mullin wanted to cancel the Fourth of July fireworks show on the National Mall in the midst of lightning, according to the people familiar with the matter. Trump said in his speech that evening that one of his advisers suggested postponing the celebrations but was overruled. “One of my very brilliant people backstage said, ‘Don’t worry about it, sir. We can do it maybe next week,’” Trump told the crowd. “I said, ‘It doesn’t work next week. This is the big day. We want July Fourth. We’re not looking for July something else.’”

In late June, after the Supreme Court ruled that the administration could end temporary immigration protections for 350,000 Haitians living in the U.S., Mullin suggested in a television interview that some Haitians might be able to remain in the country. “Either try to fill out the paperwork and be here underneath a permanent status, or we’ll help you get back to your country,” he said. The comments were seen by some inside the administration as out of step with its messaging; deporting the Haitian population had been a promise on the campaign trail, and the court had just handed the administration a victory on the issue.

Lauren Bis, a White House spokeswoman, did not mention Mullin directly but said the president “has confidence in his Cabinet to carry out the agenda the American people voted for.” She added: “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership we have the most secure border in history, we are deporting record numbers of illegal aliens, we have cracked down on illegal alien fraud, and we are denaturalizing individuals who illegally procured American citizenship.” A DHS spokeswoman said the administration is “one team, and we have one fight.”

The perceived missteps highlight the tightrope Mullin has been asked to walk. He entered the job with a mission to change the department’s public image, particularly after immigration officials shot and killed two American citizens in Minneapolis — a goal that has sometimes conflicted with Trump’s desire to appear committed to his mass-deportation agenda. Under Mullin’s watch, arrests and deportations initially dipped but have since climbed to some of the highest daily totals of the administration to date, with ICE arresting between 1,500 and 2,000 immigrants a day, according to an administration official familiar with the data. DHS has not been publicizing the arrests.

The backlash also underscores the difficulty of holding Trump’s homeland security post. Noem was the first cabinet secretary fired during Trump’s second term, and in his first term Trump cycled through two Senate-confirmed DHS secretaries and four acting secretaries.

Mullin has also faced strong internal opposition over his selection of Lance Schroyer — a veteran of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol who led Mullin’s security detail during his Senate tenure — as the permanent head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rank-and-file ICE officials have balked at the pick, saying they think Schroyer lacks federal government or immigration experience. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, opposes the nomination, and Mullin made a direct appeal to the president on it. The Senate has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing for Schroyer.