Mullin responds to Salazar’s ad attacking Trump’s immigration crackdown

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday defended the Trump administration’s immigration policy after a Republican lawmaker endorsed by President Trump said ICE has “gone too far” by arresting people without criminal records.

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), made a notable break from Trump in a new campaign ad for her reelection bid in Florida.

“Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” he said in the ad, which will run on TV and online in South Florida.

“In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record,” she added. “The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”

CNN’s Dana Bush pressed the Homeland Security chief on Salazar’s comments, noting that Salazar currently represents a majority-Hispanic district.

“We don’t pick and choose which laws we enforce. We enforce the immigration policy that Congress passed and obligated Department of Homeland Security to enforce,” Mullin said.

He also asserted that DHS was not basing its arrests on quotas set by the White House, and that there has “never” been a conversation with the White House about such a target.

Mullin said ICE prioritizes people with serious criminal histories but will also arrest other people who are in the country illegally when agents encounter them during enforcement operations.

Bash noted that Salazaar was citing DHS data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request showing that half of the roughly 50,000 people detained in July had no criminal record — a distinction which Mullin rejected.

“I will say that’s actually not true,” he said, arguing that the people who entered the country illegally were already criminals since they broke the law.

“When you broke the law and you came into this country illegally, you chose to become a criminal at that point, regardless,” he said.