WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Homeland Security panel Tuesday and defended his threats to cripple international air travel into some cities led by Democrats.
Democratic senators on the panel also pressed Mullin about aggressive immigration tactics from federal officers; whether the department would follow court orders from federal judges; and his recent televised comments floating plans to pull customs employees from airports in cities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Republicans also probed Mullin about visa issues affecting rural hospitals and employers in the hospitality industry.
It was the first time Mullin, who was advocating for President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request, has appeared before Congress since the Senate confirmed his nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security in March.
The top Democrat on the panel, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, asked Mullin if DHS would implement court orders from federal judges.
Mullin did not answer the question, but said he would “never break the Constitution.”
Murphy pressed him several more times, but Mullin only argued that some judges make a “political opinion from the bench.”
“If we didn’t think the courts were politicized then I’d be able to answer that,” he said.
Airspace in ‘chaos’?
Murphy criticized Mullin’s first few months in his role, citing repeated statements he would suspend arrivals of international flights to cities and states that are governed by Democrats.
“Not only would that throw our airspace into chaos, it’s illegal,” Murphy said. “Do not ask us to fund an agency that makes up its own laws.”
Mullin pushed back on Murphy’s characterizations, calling them “outlandish claims” that “are flat wrong.”
“What’s unconstitutional that we’re doing?” Mullin said. “We’re doing the job that Congress gave us.”
Mullin said in interviews on Fox News and Newsmax last week that he was considering a plan to remove customs officers from airports in cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
“Listen, these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren’t allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, then we shouldn’t be processing international flights into their cities, either,” he told Fox’s Sean Hannity May 26.
The move would severely harm customs processing.
The top Democrat on the full Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, said it would be “insane.”
“It is not only dangerous but would spell economic crisis for blue and red states,” Murray said.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen brought up the high-profile case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran immigrant who was wrongly deported to a brutal mega-prison in El Salvador last year. Abrego Garcia fought to be returned to the United States, where the Trump administration continues to try to deport him.
Van Hollen asked Mullin if he was aware that Abrego Garcia has agreed to be removed to Costa Rica, and that Costa Rica will accept him.
Mullin said he was not aware of that.
In a federal court in Maryland, Abrego Garcia is challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to remove him to several African countries, rejecting his offer of moving to Costa Rica.
Abrego Garcia’s wrongful deportation cast a national spotlight on the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign. Several courts ruled his deportation illegal and the Supreme Court ruled Abrego Garcia should be returned to the U.S., but stopped short of requiring it.
The Justice Department indicted Abrego Garcia on human-smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop, but a federal judge in Tennessee last month found the move to be vindictive and dismissed the charges.
Prior to the charges being dismissed, the Justice Department offered for Abrego Garcia to be removed to Costa Rica if he were to plead guilty to those initial charges. He refused. Since then, the Trump administration has tried to remove him to Eswatini, Liberia and Uganda.
Van Hollen told Mullin that Abrego Garcia had agreed to be deported to Costa Rica.
“Great. If he’s willing to do that, we’ll send him,” Mullin said.
Visa restrictions
Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins of Maine asked Mullin about two visa programs, H-1B for high-skill workers and H-2B for seasonal workers. She said the newly imposed visa fee for highly skilled workers the Trump administration placed – $100,000 – is impacting rural hospitals in her state.
She asked Mullin if the Trump administration would consider making a carveout for healthcare workers on a H-1B visa.
Mullin said DHS has looked into that issue, but said his ability to address it was limited.
“To have a carveout would be difficult,” he said. “We still have to do our due diligence.”
Collins asked Mullin if DHS would consider reinstating a visa policy that allowed repeat seasonal workers to not be included in the annual cap for H-2B visas.
Mullin said his hands were tied and said Congress would have to give him a higher cap.
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen asked Mullin for a followup on visa processing for international students on F-1 visas, citing her state’s New England College as an example.
“Without approval by July 1 they will lose 2,000 graduate students,” she said.
Mullin said he had looked into the issue and alerted U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that processes legal immigration paperwork. DHS is “working on it,” he added.
“There’s some real urgency,” Shaheen said.
