Immigration questions for Markwayne Mullin
Trump's nominee to replace Kristi Noem faces the Senate today. Here's what they should ask him.
Senate confirmation hearings begin today for Markwayne Mullin, the Oklahoma senator Trump has nominated to replace Kristi Noem at DHS.
In my last post, I compiled a list of non-immigration questions for Mullin. Here are my questions pertaining to immigration.
— Last year, immigration officials rounded up Venezuelan immigrants and shipped them off CECOT, the torture prison in El Salvador. They were given no due process, and were sent to the prison in defiance of a federal court. Most of the men send to CECOT had no violent record, some had no criminal record at all, and some had government authorization to be in the U.S. while they pursued asylum claims. Do you think sending those men to CECOT an abuse of power?
— Your predecessor at DHS said at one poitn last year that the men would remain at CECOT for the rest of their lives. As a general matter of policy, do you believe that the United States should be rounding up immigrants — legal or not — and sending them to serve life sentences in brutal foreign prisons on no specific charges, and with no trial or due process? If President Trump wanted to resume the practice, or ordered ICE to start sending immigrants to CECOT again, or a different overseas prison with no due process, would you follow those orders?
— Stephen Miller has reportedly set a quota that federal immigration officers deport 3,000 people per day. Do you think arrest/deportation quotas are good policy?
— Miller’s reported ultimate goal is to deport more than a million people per year. No country has ever forcibly displaced that many people without mass casualties, particularly in such a short period of time. Do you think this is a realistic goal? Do you think the U.S. currently has the infrastructure to deport that many people humanely? Does it matter if it’s done humanely?
— DHS has routinely denied members of Congress access to immigration detention facilities despite a federal law that authorizes members to enter and inspect any facility unannounced. Will you enforce that law, or will DHS continue to ignore it under your watch?
— Law enforcement officials have been alarmed by the proliferation of videos showing immigration officers shattering car windows while apprehending people suspected of immigration crimes — or of “inhibiting” federal immigration officers from doing their jobs. Professional policing organizations say such tactics should only be sued under extreme circumstances. Are you okay with window-shattering as a routine tactic for immigration enforcement? What if there are children in the car?
— Stephen Miller has assured federal immigration officers that they have “absolute immunity” from criminal and civil liability, no matter what they do. Do you agree? Do you think it’s appropriate to tell law enforcement officers that no matter how abusive, illegal, or violent their actions, they’ll never be held accountable?
— The AP reported earlier this year that ICE and Border Patrol officers have been raiding private homes without a judicial search warrant to search for undocumented immigrants. They’re apparently operating on a memo from the Office of Legal Counsel which argues that because these searches are administrative (as opposed to criminal) they don’t require a warrant signed by a judge. That claim is almost universally disputed by constitutional lawyers. It also flatly contradicts the historical reason why we have a Fourth Amendment — anger over the administrative warrants British soldiers used to search homes in Boston prior to the American Revolution.
Do you believe that federal immigration officers have the power to forcibly enter private homes without a judicial warrant? Will this policy continue under your watch?
— You’re a vocal supporter of the right to bear arms. Do also you believe in the Castle Doctrine? If immigration agents start breaking into homes without judicial oversight, what happens when someone one of the many American gun owners understandably mistakes the masked men breaking into their home for criminal intruders and exercises their right to defend themselves and their family?
— Donald Trump has said that he sent Border Patrol and ICE agents to Minnesota to fight “fraud.” Is that an appropriate use of ICE and Border Patrol?
— The president later said he sent Border Patrol and ICE agents to punish Minnesota because he “won” the state all three times he ran for president, and state officials had stolen his victory from him. Do you believe Trump won the state of Minnesota in 2016, 2020, and 2024? Setting that aside, is sending armed federal law enforcement officers to terrorize a city in order to punish its elected officials an appropriate use of federal power?
— Should armed forces — police or military — ever be used to punish the president’s political opponents?
— Your DHS predecessor said that President Trump sent National Guard troops and active duty Marines to Los Angeles to “liberate” that city and the state of California from “socialist” elected leaders. Do you think “liberating” blue cities from their their elected political leaders is an appropriate use of the National Guard, the military, and federal law enforcement forces?
— Media reports have found more than a dozen instances in which ICE, HSI, and Border Patrol, agents have fired their guns into moving cars, usually after placing themselves in the path of those cars. Most police agencies prohibit both tactics. In fact, federal and DHS policy prohibit both, except in very limited circumstances. Policing experts have said that videos from these other incidents also show federal immigration officers repeatedly violating these policies, including in the moments before Renee Good was killed.
Do you support these policies barring officers from firing into moving cars and from putting themselves in front of moving vehicles? Do you plan to enforce the policies? Repeal them? Leave them in place but not enforce them?
— Do you believe that it’s legal for federal officers to fire their guns at someone who flees but is suspected only of an immigration violation? (Note: It is not.) Do you believe it is appropriate?
— Your predecessor said that if stopped by immigration officers, everyone — citizens and immigrants alike — should be prepared to present proof of their citizenship or legal residence. Do you agree? Should everyone in the country be prepared to prove their citizenship or legal residence upon demand, or risk arrest and incarceration? Should only some people be expected to do so? If so, which people? Just U.S. citizens? Just U.S. citizens who don’t “look foreign,” or speak with an accent?
— For nearly 250 years, law enforcement officers in the United States have not worn masks or shielded their identities from the public, except under very limited circumstances, such as to preserve the identities of undercover officers. Under this administration, masking has become routine in federal immigration enforcement. This has raised alarms among policing organizations, legal groups, and even the FBI. Do you support federal immigration officers covering their faces? Will the practice continue under your watch?
— The administration’s justification for masking is that federal agents could be “doxed,” which could threaten their safety. Do you believe it’s a crime to post the name or photo of a federal law enforcement agent? (Hint: Under most circumstances, it is not.) Do you think it should be?
— Do you think it’s a crime to record federal immigration officers in public spaces on a cell phone? (It is not.)
— Over and over, we’ve seen criminal charges brought against immigration protesters in Chicago, Minneapolis, and other cities dismissed, thrown out by judges, or rejected by grand juries. Does this suggest to you that federal immigration officers may be unjustly arresting these protesters?
— The Obama administration, like every administration before it, had a policy of prioritizing the deportation of undocumented people with violent criminal records — the so-called “worst of the worst.” Upon taking office, Donald Trump quickly repealed that policy, and prioritized detaining and deporting people seeking asylum. Biden then reinstitute the old policy, and Trump again repealed it in 2021. Do you think agree with Trump prioritizing the deportation of people seeking asylum instead of people with violent criminal histories?
— According to a Cato Institute analysis, just 5 percent of the immigrants ICE has detained had violent criminal convictions, and 73 percent have no prior conviction at all. Of those who do have convictions, the majority have only traffic, immigration, or minor vice-related convictions. The number of people in ICE detention who have neither a criminal conviction or pending charges of any kind has grown by 2,300 percent since Trump was inaugurated last year. Given all of this, would you agree that this administration is misleading the public when it says it’s focusing immigration resources on deporting the “worst of the worst?”
— President Trump has made some ugly, sweeping comments about Somali immigrants. He has called them “garbage” who “do nothing but bitch and complain.” He has also said, “these aren’t people who work,” and “we don’t want them in our country.” Do you agree with Trump’s characterization of Somali immigrants? If so, could you elaborate? What makes them uniquely bad?
— Trump has also said that Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) should “go back to where they came from.” Do you agree with him? Given that all but Omar were born in the U.S., to where should they “go back”? If Trump ordered you to have ICE deport a member of Congress over political speech, would you follow that order?
— One of your Republican colleagues in Congress has also demanded that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani be stripped of his citizenship and deported or making “anti-American” statements and for criticizing Israel. Do you agree with them? Do you think naturalized citizens should be stripped of their citizenship and deported for criticizing the U.S. or its allies? For criticizing Trump?
— This administration has gutted the offices that provide oversight of immigration detention facilities. And as DHS massively expands the number and scope of those facilities around the country, human rights groups, lawyers, members of congress, and federal courts report that the horrific conditions at many existing facilities are creating a humanitarian crisis. Do you think that current detention facilities are providing appropriate care, food and water, medicine, and humane treatment of the people they’re holding? How do you plan to insure that these facilities are safe and humane?
— Immigration defense lawyers say ICE has been routinely denying them access to their clients, sometimes by not making phones available, sometimes by shuttling them all around the country without notifying their families or attorneys, and to evade the jurisdiction of unfriendly federal courts.
Do you believe that people detained for immigration violations have a legal right to access their lawyers? If so, how will you make sure that right is enforced?
— Local law enforcement, judges, and elected officials have said that the DHS practice of apprehending immigrants at courthouses has been enormously destructive. It punishes people who follow the law by showing up for their hearings. It also makes courthouses a place immigrants fear, which has made people less likely to testify as witnesses in criminal cases. Do you plan to continue to send DHS officers to arrest people at courthouses?
— The current administration recently arrested several journalists and activists after a protest at a church in Minnesota, claiming that the protest violated the rights of churchgoers and scared children inside. But the Trump administration has also revoked the longstanding policy of not arresting immigrants at houses of worship. Religious leaders say that attendance has dropped at churches, temples, and mosques with large immigrant congregations. Do you support the revocation of this policy?
— Do you believe that immigration officers should be able to stop and detain people and demand proof of their citizenship based solely on how they look? How they talk? Where they work? Some combination of the three?
— The agency you hope to work for abducted Rümeysa Öztürk off the street, put her in an unmarked vehicle, jailed her, and attempted to deport her, all because she wrote an op-ed in a student newspaper that was critical of Israel.
Do you believe that people who are in the U.S. on student visas or green cards should be deported over political speech? What specific speech would merit deportation? Criticizing Donald Trump? What about criticizing Chuck Schumer or Hakeem Jeffries? Öztürk was arrested for criticizing the government of another country. What if instead of Israel, she had criticized the government of Iran? North Korea? Venezuela? Her own country of Türkiye?
Would criticism of any U.S. ally merit deportation? How would students know which countries are currently allies? Is Canada okay to criticize? Russia? Denmark? Ukraine? Türkiye? Could you provide a list of which countries and political figures student visa and green card holders can and cannot publicly criticize?
— Last year your predecessor shot a propaganda video that used CECOT prisoners as props while sporting a $50,000 Rolex. DHS has also posted dozens of videos to social media featuring federal agents using force and violence against immigrants set to blaring music. Will DHS continue to generate this sort of content under your leadership? Will the agency continue to invite MAGA celebrities and influencers like Dr. Phil McGraw and Chaya Raichik along on immigration raids?
— Depending on which poll you look at, Donald Trump’s approval rating on immigration has dropped between 10 and 20 points since his inauguration last year. Why do you think that is? Do you think Trump has made any mistakes on the issue? Or do you think, as Trump apparently does, that these polls are “rigged?” If so, were they also rigged when his approval rating was higher?
— Why do you think Kristi Noem was asked to resign as head of DHS?
— President Trump has referred to developing countries as “shithole countries,” and has said more than once that the U.S. should be taking immigrants from countries like Norway and Switzerland instead. He has also talked about how immigrants have brought “bad genetics” in to the U.S., and have “poisoned the blood” of the country.
Do you agree with those statements? Many have interpreted his comments as racist. (Correctly, I think.) Do you agree? Is there any possible interpretation of these comments that isn’t racist?
— This administration has dramatically decreased the number of refugees the U.S. takes in each year. Since October, the only refugees the U.S. accepted have been white South Africans. Do you think the United States’s history of provideingrefuge to people fleeing war, natural disaster, and persecution is an honorable history? Or do you think, as Stephen Miller does, that this is was a mistake that has harmed the country?
Do you support the current policy of only taking in white people from South Africa? Do you think white people are being persecuted in South Africa? (They aren’t.)
— This administration has deported dozens of Iranian Christian converts seeking asylum back to Iran, where they’re likely to face persecution or death. Under your watch, will DHS continue to deport Christians who are likely to be persecuted upon their return?
— Do you think immigration has provided a net benefit to the United States? Do you agree that America is a country built by immigrants?
— Have you ever used the term “heritage American?” What do you understand that term to mean? Do you think that people who use that term to describe themselves are “more American” than other U.S. citizens?
— Do you know the origin of the phrase “Which way, western man?” which was used in official DHS public communications under your predecessor? It’s the title of a 1978 book written by a white nationalist, and published by a neo-Nazi group. Do you think that’s an appropriate reference for DHS to be making?
— Over the last year, the Labor Department’s social media feeds have been particularly disturbing. Posts from the agency have echoed Nazi rhetoric and iconography, made QAnon references, and even used the typeface used on the cover of Mein Kampf. The Labor accounts were being run by a 21-year-old Peyton Rollins, who was put in charge of social media for the agency. Last month, Rollins was effectively promoted, and now oversees the social media accounts for DHS. Do you intend to keep Rollins in that position? Do you see anything wrong with the way he ran the accounts at Labor?
— There were reports last year that the administration is planning to create an “Office of Remigration.” The term remigration is associated with far-right European nativists, and is generally understood to advocate for ethically cleansing Western countries by deporting all non-white people — including citizens — back to the countries of their ancestry. Official DHS social media accounts have used the term, as have prominent Trump supporters like Elon Musk. Do you support a remigration policy in the U.S.?
— Stephen Miller, who will effectively be your boss, has long pushed for an “Office of Denaturalization,” which would be tasked with stripping naturalized Americans of their citizenship. Would you support such an office? Currently, naturalized Americans can only be stripped of their citizenship if they’re found to have obtained it fraudulently. Do you support making it easier to “denaturalize” U.S. citizens? What sorts of offenses should merit denaturalization?
Here's what they will ask him: nothing. The Senate is kabuki.
Radley, thank you for this. As a law enforcement veteran, I am disgusted by the conduct of DHS, ICE & CBP, and their leadership. Dems should make clear to the American people that Rs are refusing to end the shutdown bc they will not hold DHS accountable for murdering US citizens in the street. They should refuse to confirm Mullin or anyone who will not commit to investigating/prosecuting these murderers.