In the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, 70 miles south of San Antonio, Texas, a 19-year-old college student remains detained, along with 77 children, in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At the infamous Camp East Montana in Fort Bliss, reports say three migrants (and possibly four) have died, while 100 detainees have contracted measles. At the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, detainees have described being put in cages and going 290 days without eating one piece of fruit.
Under former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, ICE had steadily gained a reputation of cruelty, unchecked force and acting with impunity. With President Donald Trump’s removal of Noem from the position in March, and his hiring of Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, the administration seemed to signal a change was coming to the department.
Where Mullin does differ from Noem, critically, is his awareness of the optics.
But less than a month into Mullin’s tenure, harmful treatment of people in detention and custody seems to have continued apace.
Where Mullin does differ from Noem, critically, is his awareness of the optics.
Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar, both Democrats from Texas, affirmed this when visiting the Dilley detention center on Wednesday. Castro attributed what he witnessed there to Mullin directly, saying during a press conference: “Under Secretary Mullin, DHS has become more secretive, not less, and yet the cruelty remains the same.”
Castro recounted some of the detainees’ horror stories and the local ICE agents’ refusal to provide information. He reiterated his findings in an 11-minute social media video, saying, “Today’s visit was very different from what I’ve gone through before. … Washington is literally controlling just about every word that comes out of the mouth of the people who work at Dilley.”
If Mullin has his way with DHS, such horrific and utterly inhumane conditions will not dominate the front pages of newspapers, your television screen or your social media feed. Mullin effectively said as much in his confirmation hearing last month when he stated, “My goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day.” In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this week, he questioned why DHS is “such a political hotbed” when “all they’re doing is trying to keep our streets safe, trying to keep our nation secure.”
Mullin has stated his support for deporting babies born in the U.S. to parents who entered the country illegally, defended Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in California against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom, and labeled the Democrats’ refusal to fund DHS without significant reforms to ICE tactics as “political theater.”
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In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” when he was a senator, Mullin told Jake Tapper that the ICE officer who fatally shot Renee Good acted in self-defense when he fired at her because her car was “a lethal weapon.” When Tapper presented images of the officer shooting Good from the side, and thus out of the way of her vehicle, Mullin remained steadfast, asserting that “the vehicle was still acting in the manner of a deadly weapon and until that completely stops, he [the officer] has to eliminate the threat.”
Therein lies the one sobering and dangerous distinction between how Noem ran DHS and how Mullin intends to. Whereas Noem permitted the department to inflict excessive and sometimes fatal harm on camera and in broad daylight, Mullin appears to understand that he can continue to operate similarly — as long as he can keep his department’s offenses out of the public eye.
And crucially, there’s scant evidence that Mullin’s strategy to keep DHS out of the spotlight involves any true departure from the overtly cruel methods his predecessor oversaw during her time leading the department.
It’s important to remember that the public outrage and backlash that Noem incurred was arguably what led to her ouster, and what created a record of overwhelming desire for a change.
As Castro said, “the cruelty remains the same.” The public would do well to remain vigilant, even (or especially) if the headlines and viral coverage quiet down.
Alexander Puri
Alexander Puri is the anchor producer for "The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell," a role he began in December 2022. Prior to joining MSNBC, he worked the overnight shifts on the assignment desk at ABC News.