Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin went head-to-head with CNN anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday over one of two shootings involving ICE officers in New York City since Mullin took over the department, answering questions about tactics with a set of numbers of his own.
Tapper pressed the secretary on the shooting of an illegal immigrant by ICE officers last week, the second such incident since Mullin succeeded Kristi Noem as secretary in March, according to Daily Wire. Mullin did not engage with the framing, turning instead to what he described as the more pressing figure: the illegal immigrants in New York charged with or convicted of murder, and the American lives he says were lost because those suspects were in the country at all.
Mullin Points to Suspect’s Record
The homeland security chief told Tapper that Oscar Belgal had amassed a significant criminal history in just three years in the United States. According to Mullin, Belgal was in the country illegally and was credibly linked to the Trinitarios street gang. Mullin used the case to explain what he described as the reality of enforcement operations, saying that when ICE moves to apprehend a suspect, “fight or flight” instincts often take over.
“When we’re approaching a vehicle, that individual knows that they’re going to jail,” Mullin said, offering his account of how such encounters unfold.
He then pivoted to the larger case he wanted to make, telling Tapper that if the conversation was going to be about the two individuals shot on his watch as secretary, it should also be about the illegal immigrants in New York City currently wanted for murder. In the exchange, Mullin cited the figure repeatedly, along with a parallel number: illegal immigrants currently in state prison for killings, who, he said, had detainers placed on them by ICE.
“All 258 of those individuals took an American life,” Mullin said. “All 258 of those deaths were 100% preventable because those illegals shouldn’t be here.”
The secretary argued that if critics are genuinely concerned about the tactics ICE uses, the more productive question is why states are not cooperating with federal immigration authorities. He noted that the individuals he was describing, including Oscar, had outstanding detainers.
Detainers and a Fallen Detective
Mullin also brought up two illegal immigrants implicated in the stabbing of off-duty NYPD Detective Jose Mercedes, saying that one of the two had likewise been the subject of an ICE detainer. His point was that federal authorities had asked for custody before the suspects ended up back on the street.
“That means they were locked up before, we asked the state, we asked the city to give them to us, and they released them back on the streets,” he said.
From there, Mullin aimed his criticism at jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, saying the public’s frustration should be directed there. “If anybody should be outraged, it should [be] the public to the sanctuary states and sanctuary politicians that continue to release these murderers and thugs back to the streets and put the public in danger.”
The exchange puts a spotlight on the escalating conflict between the Department of Homeland Security and state and local officials in New York over immigration enforcement, an issue that has intensified since Mullin took the helm of the department. The two ICE-involved shootings in the city since March have become flashpoints in that debate, with the secretary using Sunday’s interview to argue that the operational decisions of his officers are not the central question.
For Mullin, the interview was an opportunity to reframe the discussion around enforcement outcomes and the consequences he attributes to sanctuary policies. His decision to answer questions about a fatal shooting with statistics about crimes committed by people in the country illegally reflects the broader rhetorical strategy of an administration that has made interior enforcement a signature issue. Whether that argument lands with the public — or with Tapper’s audience — is the political fight now underway, and one the secretary showed no sign of backing away from on Sunday.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/jake-tapper-and-markwayne-mullin-go-by-the-numbers-in-face-off-over-ice-shooting