On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin visited the Arizona border, celebrating what he described as a significant achievement during President Trump’s immigration policy: no migrants were released after being caught trying to enter the US illegally in the first 17 months of the administration.
Mullin inspected a part of the border where the construction of Trump’s anticipated wall had recently finished, suggesting that this area had previously allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter undetected during former President Biden’s term.
He remarked, “Under the Biden administration, there was no national security — because you can’t have national security if you don’t know who’s inside the country.”
According to Mullin, this Arizona section had seen between 500,000 and 1 million migrants apprehended and subsequently released during Biden’s presidency, although he acknowledged that the exact number may remain unknown due to inconsistent record-keeping by the previous administration.
He claimed that the number of migrants caught and released under Trump has now dropped to zero. Additionally, he noted that since Trump returned to office, federal authorities have apprehended 2,268 known terrorists who entered the US illegally, suggesting that the administration’s enforcement efforts have enhanced national safety.
Mullin emphasized, “American people deserve to be safe in their cities, in their towns, on their streets, in their neighborhoods, at their schools, while they’re shopping. And every single murder that takes place at the hands of an illegal is 100% preventable.”
While the administration is proud of its border control statistics, there are ongoing obstacles to Trump’s wall project, which now faces a completion timeline pushed back to late 2027. Mullin had previously believed that the initial phase would wrap up by June of next year but attributed the delays to a wave of lawsuits from environmentalists and politicians opposing Trump, including California Governor Gavin Newsom.
He stated that these legal challenges have hindered access to the land necessary for construction and suggested that even increased funding might not expedite the process. “National security should be first. We want to be good stewards of the land too,” Mullin remarked. However, he cautioned that activist judges and localized opposition are slowing down progress.
Mullin also criticized sanctuary policies in states like California and New York, which limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, arguing that these measures complicate the Trump administration’s deportation and enforcement efforts, despite pushback from local officials and immigrant advocates. “I get that some people may not like immigration enforcement, but the truth is, we’re a nation of laws,” he said, adding that sanctuary cities complicate life for American citizens trying to live peacefully.
