Reining in President Donald Trump’s immigration policies is near the top of the agenda for Democrats preparing to take control of Congress. But it’s unclear whether cooperative overtures from Trump officials will survive the new White House chief of staff, immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has “opened the door for negotiations,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), the incoming leader of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security who said he has already spoken to agency officials. “The question is, will Miller pull him back?”
Democrats argue that their landslide victory in the Nov. 3 midterm elections amounts to a mandate from voters on an array of fronts, including reversing immigration enforcement policies widely viewed as overly aggressive. Supported by immigration advocates and industry leaders concerned about the loss of workers, Democrats say they are willing to negotiate with Trump, Mullin and other Republicans over the details.
At a news conference last week on Capitol Hill, Democrats urged a renewed push for long-sought legislation to grant legal status to undocumented immigrants and create pathways to citizenship for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Other Democratic leaders are arguing for new guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and clawing back funds designated for mass deportations.
“Call a Republican. Tell them the time is now,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) said of a bill she sponsored that would provide a path to permanent legal status and citizenship for millions of immigrants who are ineligible. “It’s a lot of people who have been in the country for years, followed the rules and deserve the protections they need.”
Since the election, Trump and Mullin have expressed an openness to working with Democrats on immigration. In an interview taped Nov. 6 and aired Nov. 8, Trump told “60 Minutes” that his immigration policies were “too tough” and that he is open to creating a pathway to legal status for workers who have been in the country illegally for 10 to 15 years.
“The president has said seven times since the elections that immigration hurt Republicans [politically] and he will work with Democrats,” said Rebecca Shi, president of the American Business Immigration Coalition, a group of industry leaders that advocates for immigration changes in Washington, and which applauded Trump’s remarks.
But while Trump’s comments won praise from the business community, they startled MAGA hard-liners, who immediately argued online that any relief for undocumented immigrants would amount to a betrayal.
“And now amnesty. Seriously?” conservative political commentator Megyn Kelly wrote Nov. 8 on X.
In the meantime, Trump said that he would promote Miller to the most powerful job in the White House. And the day after the “60 Minutes” interview aired, he told reportersthat his immigration policy “hasn’t changed.”
Miller did not respond to requests for comment. Lauren Bis, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement: “President Trump’s strong immigration policy remains unchanged, and the Democrats should work with him to keep our southern border secure, remove dangerous illegal criminals from our communities, and stop the illicit trafficking of lethal drugs.”
“If Democrats choose to pursue radical left open border and mass amnesty policies, they are choosing to work against the interests of the American people,” the statement said.
While Trump’s approach to immigration may appear to be in flux, many on both sides of the aisle say any real retreat is made much less likely with Miller in charge.
“Stephen Miller is the architect of [Trump’s] deportation policy, of his whole immigration policy. So there’s no deal to cut with Stephen Miller,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-California), who is line to chair the House Oversight Committee.
Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin (D), who will probably become chair of the House Judiciary Committee, called Trump’s decision to promote Miller “hardly an olive branch to the Democrats.”
“You would think that he would appoint somebody who would want to talk to Democrats,” Raskin said. “Stephen Miller just intensifies their isolation from the rest of the country.”
A senior Trump administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, agreed that Miller will probably continue hard-line policies. As deputy chief of staff, Miller convened daily calls with officials across a range of government agencies. He kept an especially close eye on DHS, where he had a reputation for acting as shadow administrator during the tenure of DHS secretary Kristi L. Noem.
Mullin, who took over in March, is a former Oklahoma senator with close ties to the business community; he was hired to quell public outrage over aggressive tactics under Noem. He has at times taken a softer approach that has created tension with hard-liners.
For example, Mullin has opted for quieter immigration operations over the highly publicized raids in blue cities that resulted in mass protests and the death of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis this year. He has also opened the agency to meetings with the business leaders and, during the summer, temporarily paused traffic stops after ICE officers killed two more people.
Since the election, Mullin also has signaled an openness to relief for undocumented immigrants protected under a 2012 law known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals). “I’ll be open to talk to anything,” Mullin said when asked Nov. 9 about immigration policy.
But how much say Mullin has in the direction of Trump’s immigration policy is unclear. Miller has close allies at DHS, including Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar and General Counsel James Percival, the administration official said, making it difficult for Mullin to stray far from the White House line.
“Even if Mullin says something, Stephen can just go to others and say, ’This is what we’re going to do,’” the official said. And though Mullin may have veered off message, he has a good working relationship with Miller, the official said: “Their dynamic is respectful and cordial, but not close.”
Asked for comment, DHS supplied an unsigned statement.
“Secretary Mullin works closely with President Trump, Stephen Miller, and Tom Homan to remove criminal illegal aliens from this country and to continue to deliver the most secure border in history,” the statement said. “DHS will continue to enforce our nation’s laws and remove criminal illegal aliens from our streets.”
While Mullin and Trump have signaled some desire for cooperation with Democrats, other Trump officials, including Homan, the White House border czar, are eyeing heightened enforcement, especially on businesses that employ undocumented workers. But workplace raids can be politically risky because many targets — meatpacking plants, factories, large farms — are in rural areas where once-strong support for Trump is already eroding.
“I think the right wants more large-scale raids but those rarely work out well for the administration,” the official said. “Business interests get really upset and they’ll go directly to the White House” to complain.
Wherever Trump lands, Democrats are forging ahead with plans to claw back money approved since Trump took office for ICE and Customs and Border Protection enforcement and to exercise aggressive oversight of immigration policies. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), the expected incoming chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said he wants to strengthen legal requirements for ICE raids, beef up training requirements for ICE agents and prohibit them from wearing face masks, among other goals.
“I just think that nothing’s off the table from an oversight perspective,” Thompson said. “So stay tuned.”
Added Cuellar: “We’ve got to put ICE the way it was before January of 2025. And we will get that done.”
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