Mullin says deportations will continue

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Wednesday said “deportations will continue” in a social media post following Democrats’ sweeping victories in the 2026 midterm elections, claiming both the House and Senate.

Democrats campaigned against President Trump’s immigration crackdown, with some using the call to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a slogan on the campaign trail.

Mullin challenged those calls and other criticism toward the agency, including in the lead-up to the midterms. He clapped back at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she warned that ICE officers could try to intimidate voters at the polls, questioning why she was “still relevant.”

“Even in my confirmation hearing, this was brought up, and I made it very clear that ICE agents aren’t going to be around polling places unless there’s a threat,” Mullin told Fox News host Will Cain before polling closed Tuesday.

Democrats have vowed to use their power in Congress to restrain ICE and could withhold future funding, as well as be an authority to conduct oversight on the agency. But they will likely face resistance from Republican lawmakers and attempts at the legislative level could face a presidential veto, which Trump has assured before and after the midterms .

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) introduced a bill last month, the “Reimagining Safety Act,” to overhaul U.S. immigration agencies, which included replacing the Department of Homeland Security with a “community-centered” department.

The ICE critic, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that the deaths of those detained by ICE and Customs and Border Protection, and of those deported by the U.S. were the “reason DHS must be dismantled and something new must take its place,” she said last month.

Ahead of the midterms, a New York Times/Siena University poll found that 52 percent of likely voters backed Democrats on handling immigration over Republicans, with 45 percent saying they backed Republicans.