'Just say it': Mullin corners Democrats on ICE funding in fiery budget hearing

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the immigration crackdown, accusing opposition lawmakers of enabling illicit networks
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the administration's immigration policies while highlighting efforts to locate migrant children who lost contact with federal authorities (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin defended the administration's immigration policies while highlighting efforts to locate migrant children who lost contact with federal authorities (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin transformed a routine Capitol Hill budget hearing on Wednesday, June 3, into an explosive partisan battleground, accusing congressional Democrats of effectively backing open borders.

In highly confrontational testimony regarding the Department of Homeland Security's budget, Mullin warned that the opposition's attempts to cut funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would completely cripple public safety and dismantle the nation's frontline law enforcement infrastructure.

Mullin directed his sharpest criticism at Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, slamming a progressive legislative push to halt border agency operations by September 30. The secretary argued that defunding agencies that protect American ports of entry is entirely reckless.



"You want open borders?" Mullin challenged. "Just say, I want to defund police, I want open borders, and I want illegals running wild in our streets. Because ICE every day is taking the worst of the worst off the streets."

Secretary exposes massive missing children crisis

The cabinet official fiercely pushed back against Democratic criticisms regarding President Trump's past immigration policy implementation and treatment of minors.

Mullin turned the focus onto deep systemic failures under previous leadership, revealing a horrific legacy of missing migrant youth that the current administration was actively working to correct.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 03: U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin is sworn in to testify during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing in the Cannon House Office Building on June 03, 2026 in Washington, DC. The hearing was held to examine the Department of Homeland Security's budget request for fiscal year 2027. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Mullin argued that the issue extended beyond immigration politics, framing it as a long-running challenge involving vulnerable migrant minors (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Mullin testified that authorities have successfully found over 120,000 children who completely went missing under the Biden administration. 

Out of 340,000 minors who initially lost touch with federal tracking systems during that period, officials heavily fear that the vast majority have been pulled directly into illicit domestic human transportation rings.

Trump administration launches child rescue operations

Defending the current administration's strict law enforcement parameters, Mullin asserted that the executive branch has shifted away from past negligence to launch aggressive stabilization efforts. 

He emphasized that federal agents are actively rescuing these vulnerable minors from criminal syndicates across the country.

Federal immigration agents led by Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino of the El Centro Sector for U.S. Customs and Border Protection make arrests across the far north side of the city on October 31, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois. The operation is part of President Donald Trump's administration's
The secretary used the hearing to renew calls for additional funding and support for immigration enforcement agencies tasked with child protection efforts (Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images)

"What is inhumane about that? Nothing," Mullin declared, arguing that Trump was executing the vital enforcement duties that previous White House officials allegedly deliberately turned a blind eye to.

Insisting that both parties should unite around safeguarding youth, the secretary demanded that Congress fully fund ICE and CBP to guarantee that the nation's borders remain secure and children are actively watched over.

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