At the National Governors Association’s summer meeting, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reiterated the pledges he made during his confirmation hearings in March. “Let’s work to get the worst of the worst off the streets, and then you won’t see me in your cities and states like you do as much,” Mullin told governors last week, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency he oversees. “In fact, you probably won’t even see us at all.”
That is a reassuring message, but it doesn’t apply at airports.
To hit the White House’s quota of roughly 2,000 arrests per day, ICE has ramped up its presence at travel hubs. Agents appear to be casting a wide net to pick up anyone without legal status.
These travelers are not the “worst of the worst.” They are often people who have overstayed their visas and may be in legal limbo while awaiting an extension or another form of legal status.
ICE instructs officers to nab people primarily at security checkpoints, but videos have shown officers detaining others in boarding areas and on jet bridges. In Dallas recently, a Southwest gate agent blocked ICE officers from boarding a plane without a judicial warrant. The airline has taken similar action at least half a dozen times in recent weeks, according to Wall Street Journal.
Mullin insists he wants to keep his department out of the headlines and wind down the theatrics that led to the removal of his predecessor, Kristi L. Noem. The airport ICE capades are a strange way of showing it.
Meanwhile, the agency’s approval ratings continue to slide. Most Americans say they have little or no confidence in ICE. Only 22 percent say they have “a great deal of confidence” in the agency, according to a YouGov/Economist poll last month. There is a large partisan divide, with MAGA Republicans accounting for most pro-ICE sentiment. Only 12 percent of independents have a “great deal” of confidence in the agency.
Mullin was right in the spring to pivot toward arresting dangerous criminals. Airport arrests are a relic of January’s excesses. They won’t help restore public trust, nor will they make the public safer.
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