Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is facing a revolt from President Donald Trump’s own immigration hardliners after making the unfashionable suggestion that legal immigration and worker shortages might deserve a place in the conversation. The backlash now includes calls for Trump to fire him and a proposal to replace him with a more aggressive loyalist.
Mullin drew the criticism after speaking Saturday at the National Governors Association’s summer meeting in Oklahoma City, where he distinguished immigrants pursuing legal status from those in the country illegally and advocated changes to some employment visa programs. As reported by MassLive, conservative figures including Tomi Lahren, Robby Starbuck, Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon accused Mullin of straying from the mass-deportation agenda they believe Trump voters demanded.
The apparent offense, in the eyes of the hard-liners, was not that Mullin rejected deportations. It was that he suggested the administration could enforce immigration laws while also adjusting work visa programs to fill labor shortages — a position that has earned him accusations of being an “amnesty advocate,” according to The Daily Beast.
The Revolt Has Been Building For Months
This is not Mullin’s first collision with the MAGA immigration machine. The Washington Post reported in April that conservative groups were already alarmed by Mullin’s calls for a quieter, less chaotic enforcement strategy after deadly encounters involving federal immigration officers.
Since then, Mullin’s Department of Homeland Security has also tried to reopen lines of communication with businesses worried that aggressive enforcement is worsening worker shortages. The Washington Post reported last month that DHS officials met with business groups and that the administration had taken steps involving guest-worker visas and work permits, even as arrests continued to rise.
That balancing act is precisely what immigration hardliners oppose. Bannon has floated Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist who had been serving as acting director of national intelligence, as a possible replacement, while conservative commentator Jake Posobiec described a “growing wave” seeking a DHS secretary who puts deportations first, The Daily Beast reported.
Bay Area Travelers Have Already Seen Mullin’s Hardball Approach
For Bay Area readers, Mullin’s immigration politics are not merely Washington theater. Earlier this year, he floated pulling Customs and Border Protection officers from international airports in sanctuary jurisdictions — a proposal that could have disrupted international travel through SFO — as Hoodline previously reported.
There is no announcement that Mullin is being removed, and the White House is publicly standing by him for now. Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said President Trump has confidence in Mullin and the administration’s ability to carry out the voters’ agenda, while a DHS spokesperson said critics were trying to “sow division and create an illusion of chaos,” according to The Daily Beast.
Still, the episode exposes a growing tension inside Trump’s immigration policy: the administration wants the political force of mass deportations, but it also faces pressure from employers, states and parts of the Republican coalition to keep the economy staffed. Mullin’s job may be safe today, but his critics are making clear that even a modest nod toward legal immigration can now look like betrayal in MAGA Washington.
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