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Acting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin visited the Arizona border Thursday to tout what he called a major milestone in President Trump’s immigration crackdown: zero releases of migrants caught trying to enter the US illegally during the administration’s first 17 months.
Mullin toured an undisclosed stretch of the border where construction of Trump’s long-promised wall was recently completed, claiming the area had previously seen hundreds of thousands of migrants slip into the country undetected under former President Joe Biden.
“Under the Biden administration, there was no national security — because you can’t have national security if you don’t know who’s inside the country,” Mullin told The California Post.
“A secure border, and knowing who’s entering your country, is where you can start actually saying we have national security,” he added.
Mullin said the stretch of Arizona border had seen between 500,000 and 1 million migrants apprehended and released during the Biden years — though he acknowledged the exact figure may never be known because the previous administration kept spotty records.
Under Trump, the number of migrants apprehended and released at the location has dropped to zero, Mullin claimed.
The acting DHS chief also said federal authorities have caught 2,268 known terrorists who entered the country illegally since Trump returned to the White House, arguing the administration’s enforcement efforts have made the nation safer.
“American people deserve to be safe in their cities, in their towns, on their streets, in their neighborhoods, at their schools, while they’re shopping,” said Mullen. “And every single murder that takes place at the hands of an illegal is 100% preventable.”
But while the administration is celebrating its border enforcement figures, Trump’s signature wall project has not been without challenges, with completion now potentially pushed back to the end of 2027.
Mullin previously estimated the first wall would be finished by June of next year. He blamed a wave of lawsuits brought by environmental groups and anti-Trump politicians, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for slowing construction.
The legal challenges have created obstacles to accessing land needed for the project, Mullin said, adding that even a larger budget would not necessarily accelerate construction.
“National security should be first. We want to be good stewards of the land too,” said Mullen. “But because we have these activist judges, because we have areas like that, it’s slowing down our ability to gain access to some of this land.”
The border chief also took aim at so-called sanctuary policies in California and New York, which restrict local authorities from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
Mullin argued those policies have made it harder for the Trump administration to carry out its deportation and enforcement agenda, despite objections from local officials and immigrant advocates.
“I get that some people may not like immigration enforcement, but the truth is, we’re a nation of laws,” said Mullin.
“The sanctuary cities and sanctuary states do nothing to help people’s lives out,” he added. “They actually cause more problems and take freedom away from American citizens who are trying to live their lives.”