During a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullin and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) engaged in a heated exchange regarding border security and the treatment of migrant children.
DeLauro claimed that the Trump administration had separated 3,900 children from their families, prompting Mullin to counter that the Biden administration had lost track of around 450,000 migrant children, accusing Democrats of not addressing the issue.
“450,000 children went missing under the Biden administration, and you’ve said nothing about it,” Mullin insisted. “Don’t point fingers at me. Stop being a hypocrite.”
DeLauro retorted, “I’m going to point fingers at you.”
Mullin argued that the Connecticut Democratic Party had ignored this crisis for four years. “You should be just as outraged about the 450,000 children who disappeared. You didn’t speak a word about it for four years,” he stated.
As their discussion escalated, DeLauro urged the chairman to intervene. “Chairman, could you put him in his place?” she asked.
The Chair reminded Mullin that committee members have designated speaking times and suggested allocating more time for closing statements instead.
Mullin voiced his frustration about lawmakers using the hearing for “sound bites,” asserting, “They’re doing this for attention. I’m not going to let them manipulate the situation.”
DeLauro quickly responded, questioning, “What did you do recently for a soundbite?” She expressed her concern for the hundreds of thousands of immigrant children before calling for order in the hearing.
The confrontation intensified when Mullin accused DeLauro of lying, stating, “I’m not going to let her sit there and make these absurd accusations.”
“And don’t accuse me of lying. Don’t,” DeLauro shot back.
A 2024 DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) report found that about 448,000 unaccompanied immigrant children were transferred from ICE to HHS between fiscal years 2019 and 2023. The report also noted that roughly 291,000 individuals had not received a notice to appear in immigration court, and around 32,000 had failed to attend scheduled hearings. The findings concluded that data-sharing gaps hindered ICE’s ability to effectively monitor these children’s conditions.
