Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin leaves the country at the end of the public portion of his confirmation hearing on March 18, 2026. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday and defended his threats to shut down international air travel to some Democratic-run cities.
Democratic senators on the panel also pressed Mullin about federal officials’ aggressive immigration tactics; whether the department would follow court orders from federal judges; and his youngest TV commentary There are plans to move customs workers away from airports in cities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Republicans also investigated Mullin over visa issues affecting rural hospitals and hospitality employers.
It was the first time Mullin, who championed President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request, appeared before Congress since the Senate confirmed his nomination to lead the Department of Homeland Security in March.
The top Democrat on the panel, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, asked Mullin whether DHS would implement court orders from federal judges.
Mullin didn’t answer the question but said he would “never violate the Constitution.”
Murphy pressed him several more times, but Mullin simply argued that some justices make a “political opinion from the bench.”
“If we didn’t think the courts were politicized, then I could answer that,” he said.
Airspace in “chaos”?
Murphy criticized Mullins’ first months in the role, pointing to repeated statements that he would halt international flights arriving to cities and states governed by Democrats.
“Not only would this bring chaos to our airspace, it is also illegal,” Murphy said. “Don’t ask us to fund an agency that makes its own laws.”
Mullin rejected Murphy’s characterizations, calling them “outlandish claims” that were “completely false.”
“What is unconstitutional that we are doing?” Mullin said. “We’re doing the job that Congress gave us.”
Mullin said in interviews on Fox News And Newsmax Last week he announced he was considering a plan to remove customs officers from airports in cities that don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
“Look, these sanctuary cities where the local far-left Democrats won’t allow us to do our jobs and enforce federal law, then we shouldn’t be operating international flights to their cities either,” he told Fox’s Sean Hannity on May 26.
The move would significantly impact customs clearance.
The top Democrat on the full Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, said it would be “crazy.”
“Not only is it dangerous, but it would mean an economic crisis for blue and red states,” Murray said.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia
Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen raised the high-profile case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran immigrant who was unjustly deported to a brutal mega-prison in El Salvador last year. Abrego Garcia fought to be returned to the United States, where the Trump administration continues to try to deport him.
Van Hollen asked Mullin if he was aware that Abrego Garcia had agreed to be deported to Costa Rica and that Costa Rica would accept him.
Mullin said he was unaware of this.
Abrego Garcia is in federal court in Maryland challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to relocate him to several African countries and rejected his offer to move to Costa Rica.
The wrongful deportation of Abrego Garcia has shone a national spotlight on the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign. Several courts declared his deportation illegal and the Supreme Court ruled that Abrego Garcia should be sent back to the United States but refrained from requiring it.
The Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia with human smuggling in connection with a 2022 traffic stop, but a federal judge in Tennessee last month found that move vindictive and dismissed the charges.
Before the charges were dismissed, the Justice Department offered to deport Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica if he pleaded guilty to that original charge. He refused. Since then, the Trump administration has attempted to deport him to Eswatini, Liberia and Uganda.
Van Hollen told Mullin that Abrego Garcia had agreed to be deported to Costa Rica.
“Great. If he’s willing, we’ll send him,” Mullin said.
Visa restrictions
Maine Budget Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins asked Mullin about two visa programs, H-1B for highly skilled workers and H-2B for seasonal workers. She said the Trump administration’s up-to-date visa fee for highly skilled workers – $100,000 – is impacting rural hospitals in her state.
She asked Mullin whether the Trump administration would consider a carve-out for health care workers on H-1B visas.
Mullin said DHS has looked into this issue but is restricted in its ability to address it.
“It would be difficult to spin off,” he said. “We still need to do our due diligence.”
Collins asked Mullin whether DHS would consider reinstating a visa policy that allows returning seasonal workers to be excluded from the annual cap on H-2B visas.
Mullin said his hands are tied and Congress needs to give him a higher cap.
New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen asked Mullin for more information about visa processing for international students with F-1 visas, citing her state’s New England College as an example.
“Without approval by July 1, they will lose 2,000 graduate students,” she said.
Mullin said he looked into the matter and alerted U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that processes legal immigration paperwork. DHS is “working on it,” he added.
“There is real urgency,” Shaheen said.
