DHS chief dodges questions on obeying court orders

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday accused some federal judges of politicizing their decisions and dodged questions from lawmakers about whether the Department of Homeland Security would abide by court rulings under his leadership.

During a testy exchange with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Mullin stated repeatedly that he would never violate the Constitution. At the same time, he suggested that some judges “make a political opinion from the bench” because they view themselves as above the law.

“That’s why we see lower courts overturned by higher courts constantly,” Mullin said.

During questioning at the Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Murphy pressed Mullin over a Politico story last month that found federal judges had ruled in more than 10,000 cases that federal immigration officers had illegally detained migrants without providing them a chance to plead their cases. Murphy asked Mullin whether DHS would obey a court order.

“If we didn’t think the courts were politicized, I would be able to answer that,” Mullin replied. “But we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law.”

Murphy continued to press Mullin, who declined to state unequivocally that the agency would abide by legal decisions.

“If you’re a Republican or Democrat on this committee, you should be really, really freaked out,” the senator said.

Mullin pushed back. “We should be really concerned about rulings that come out of the courts and how often they get overturned,” he said.

The hearing marked the first of two days of congressional testimony from Mullin over a proposed $70 billion increase in DHS funding contained in a broader Republican spending plan. The plan faces Democratic opposition and difficulties securing enough GOP votes for passage. Mullin will face a similar hearing Wednesday in the House Committee on Homeland Security.

At the Senate hearing, Republicans praised Mullin for taking over DHS in March after President Donald Trump fired his predecessor, Kristi L. Noem, amid falling public support for the administration’s hard-line immigration agenda.

DHS was mired in a 76-day partial shutdown at the time, but Republicans overcame that budget deadlock passing a funding provision for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol through a reconciliation bill.

Democratic senators also pressed Mullin on Tuesday over recent clashes between ICE and protesters at a the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention facility in Newark. Immigrant rights advocates have said detainees are living in inhumane and crowded conditions, but the Trump administration has called the accusations unfounded.

Mullin told the senators that health inspectors found no health violations and said about 700 migrants are currently detained at the facility, which has a capacity of 1,000.

Mullin said protesters have verbally and physically assaulted federal immigration officers, resulting in several arrests. “I support the First Amendment,” he said of the protesters, “but do it in a peaceful manner.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) asked Mullin to respond to statements Noem and DHS made in January after a federal officer shot and wounded Julio Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis, during a weekslong surge of immigration enforcement operations.

DHS officials accused Sosa-Celis of engaging in domestic terrorism and trying to kill law enforcement agents by beating him with a shovel and broom handle. Video of the incident contradicted those claims, and state authorities in Minneapolis have charged the ICE officers involved in the shooting with assault and falsely reporting a crime.

Noem’s statement that the officers were “ambushed and attacked” is an “untrue statement, isn’t it,” Van Hollen asked Mullin.

“From what we’ve been briefed on, yes,” he replied.

Asked whether DHS would provide evidence to state investigators in the case, Mullin said the FBI had conducted a separate federal investigation into the shooting.

“So it sounds like you are not willing to share evidence,” Van Hollen said. “It is hard to trust this administration to do an independent investigation.”