Trump official urges governors to help with immigration arrests of ‘worst of the worst’

OKLAHOMA CITY — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin this weekend implored states and cities to cooperate with federal immigration officials, which he said would lead to safer and lower-profile arrests and deportations.

Speaking to a group of Democratic and Republican governors gathered for the National Governors Association summer meeting, Mullin called on local governments to help focus on removing the “worst of the worst” offenders, particularly targeting people without legal citizenship status who have criminal court convictions.

The Republican, who previously represented Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House, took the stage with Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, the outgoing chair of the national association. Mullin took over the agency after President Donald Trump fired former Secretary Krsti Noem, who defended the high-profile killings of American citizens by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. 

In his remarks on Saturday, Mullin asked states to cooperate with immigration detainers, in which the feds ask local governments to hold people in the country without legal authorization after they have served their time in prison or jail. 

“That shouldn’t be controversial,” he said. “We’re not doing job-site raids. We’re not going to Home Depot and raiding the parking lot. These are individuals that have already been convicted of a crime.”

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The secretary said the alternative for so-called sanctuary cities or states that don’t cooperate with ICE is a much more dangerous prospect: ICE agents pursuing arrests of people after they are released.

“We’re going to arrest them, and then we’re going to arrest them in a public space, which could cause more problems and put our officers at risk, the public at risk, and the person we’re serving the detainer at risk.”  

Mullin highlighted the department’s recent success during the World Cup in cooperating with law enforcement, which he said not only ensured the safety of locals and visitors, but provided meaningful human trafficking prevention and the confiscation of counterfeit goods.

“We can’t do it without you guys,” he said. “I’m saying we can work together.”

He focused on cooperation in Oklahoma, where 76 of the state’s 77 counties are working with the federal government to remove immigrants before they are released from jails and prisons. 

“It’s not on the news,” he said. “You don’t see us around because the state is doing most of the work.”

Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, who took over leadership of the bipartisan governors group this week from Stitt, thanked the secretary for opening up lines of communication with states since taking over.

“There is an absolute difference in what we have seen from the start of the administration to now,” he said.

Moore questioned Mullin about the status of federal security grants, which can aid state anti-terrorism work, provide federal training and boost cybersecurity efforts. 

Mullin said the first thing the agency looked at was whether the local government was cooperating with federal law enforcement. 

“The whole point of the grants is so we can have partnerships,” he said. “…This has nothing to do with picking winners and losers or saying I choose Oklahoma over California — this has to do with it is designed by nature to build a partnership.”

At least 15 states, including Maryland, are identified as sanctuary states by the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for lower levels of immigration. 

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Mullin’s comments over the weekend sparked backlash from some Republicans, including prominent Trump ally Steve Bannon. Some of those pundits said Mullin was too lax on deportations after he acknowledged the legal steps migrants could take to gain legal status.

Mullin said naturalization ceremonies occur constantly with nearly 900,000 people becoming U.S. citizens in the past year.

But he said federal officials will have no tolerance for migrants with criminal convictions or those who have not taken the legal steps to remain in the country.

Under Mullin’s watch, ICE has made a record number of immigration arrests.

Immigration arrests reached 1,593 per day in early July in a new push to detain and deport immigrants. In June, there were more than 43,000 arrests, the highest recorded by the Trump administration, according to statistics from ICE.

“There’s a legal system to go through,” he said. “But if you choose not to even begin or not to change your status, if you’ve been here 25 years, I can’t help you.”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at [email protected].