How Will Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign Change If Markwayne Mullin Becomes DHS Secretary?

President Donald Trump has tapped Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) to serve as his next Secretary of Homeland Security, but the question remains: can he salvage the agency’s reputation and its mass deportation effort?

Leading up to the firing of outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the department faced backlash for its handling of immigration sweeps across major cities. In Minneapolis, it all came to a head after the fatal shootings of anti-ICE activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents.

At the time, Noem tagged Good and Pretti as domestic terrorists, drawing backlash from both sides of the aisle for getting ahead of federal probes.

In an attempt to clean up the situation, Trump sent his border czar, Tom Homan, into the Twin Cities to change the course of immigration raids and to quell chaos in the streets. In doing so, Trump replaced Noem ally Gregory Bovino, of Border Patrol, who was known for his aggressive tactics of carrying out roving patrols.

Homan changed all that, putting the focus on nabbing the worst criminals first.

Asked how Noem and Mullin differ, Homan says Mullin “doesn’t know the immigration game very well,” but is relying on “people with 30, 40 years of experience to guide him,” adding: “That’s the way it should be.” pic.twitter.com/x7QQkHDEH2

— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) March 18, 2026

On Wednesday, Fox News host Martha MacCallum asked Homan how Mullin would differ from Noem as secretary.

The former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director said that while Mullin “doesn’t know the immigration game very well,” he’s relying on “people with 30, 40 years of experience to guide him,” adding: “That’s the way it should be.”

Mullin faced a grilling from the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, where he was asked about how he would  “reform” ICE. The Oklahoma lawmaker admitted that there’s a need for “a better approach,” adding, “I would love to see ICE become a transport more than the frontline.”

“If we can get back into just simply working with law enforcement, we’re going to them and we’re picking up these criminals from their jail. One, we’re gonna reimburse them for having the person there and that partnership is vitally important,” he said.

During a recent hearing, Noem defended DHS’ use of “administrative immigration warrants,” which aren’t signed by a judge, to enter homes. She said they’ve only been used to enter homes in 28 instances.

Mullin suggested that would change.

“We will not enter a home or a place of business without a judicial warrant, unless we’re pursuing the individual that runs into a place of business or a house,” Mullin said during Wednesday’s hearing.

When it comes to sanctuary cities, Mullin indicated that his approach would involve holding discussions with their leaders to find common ground. When Trump sent Homan into Minneapolis, he changed Noem’s approach to pressuring sanctuary cities from the vantage point of television appearances and instead sat down with local sheriffs brokering deals that promoted better cooperation with ICE.

Homan’s actions led to a drawdown of thousands of Homeland Security agents deployed to Minneapolis.

“If they’re not willing to enforce federal law and work with us, then where’s the taxpayer dollars going to?” Mullin said.

“And ideally, I would like to go in there and talk to the mayors. I’d like to go in there and talk to the sheriffs, talk to the police chiefs, say what is your concerns, how can we get past this? Because the president has made it very clear, he wants to protect the streets for every American. He wants to restore law and order to every city. I don’t think that should be controversial,” he said.

“So maybe we sit down and we just work it out,” Mullin said, adding, “If we have to do something different, then we will, but that’s where I’m going to start at.”

Asked if he would withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and states, Mullin signaled it “would be a last option,” adding that “at the end of the day, taxpayer dollars have to be used for the right purposes and if people are refusing to enforce the nation’s laws, then I think it’s really hard to justify why we’re sending them taxpayer dollars.”

“That is not going to be my first or second or even third approach, but that would be my last resort,” Mullin said.

Noem’s firing came after she blamed Trump for questionable $200 million TV ad contracts that promoted deportations and border security.

Hours before ousting Noem, Trump told Reuters that he had no knowledge of the expensive contracts.

Noem testified during a heated Congressional hearing that the contracts “went out to a competitive bid and career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials.”

The contracts were awarded using “other than full and open competition” to a company formed days before, according to records recently obtained by The Daily Wire. That company then subcontracted the work to an organization headed by the husband of Noem’s former spokeswoman.

It now appears that Mullin wants to salvage the reputation of the department in the wake of Noem’s missteps.

“I hope that I’m not on the news six months from now every day,” Mullin said during Wednesday’s hearing.

“I hope DHS is just able to be laser focused on doing their job and it isn’t controversial about taking care of the homeland. I hope people have confidence in our agency again and I’m going to work every day to restore that,” Mullin said.

Mullin’s nomination passed a committee vote Thursday and is headed to the Senate floor.