by Misty Severi
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin vowed Wednesday that deportations of illegal migrants will continue, despite a Democratic victory on election night Tuesday.
Mullin made the comment in a three-word social media post, which reads that the “deportations will continue.”
The comment comes after Democrats won control of both chambers and House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, who is seeking the chairman post next year, said he would use his power to compel Trump administration officials to testify in front of the panel.
Thompson has already begun formal steps toward that oversight. On Wednesday he sent Mullin a letter demanding written assurances by November 11 that departmental records “have not been and will not be destroyed, modified, removed, transferred, or otherwise rendered inaccessible,” while renewing outstanding document requests with a December 2 deadline. He wrote that in the next Congress the committee “intends to address the Trump administration’s assault on the rule of law and hold those responsible accountable.”
Democrats hoping to use their power to pass meaningful legislation to curtail the power of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or potentially withhold future funding for the agency are expected to see opposition from the White House and a potential veto from the president.
However, those efforts face significant practical constraints. Congress has already approved substantial multiyear funding for ICE and Customs and Border Protection — tens of billions of dollars available through fiscal year 2029 — through the 2025 reconciliation package (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) and subsequent measures. That existing authority remains available regardless of which party controls the annual appropriations process next year.
Some Democrats, including Illinois Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez, have proposed overhauling U.S. immigration agencies and replace them with community-centered departments and agencies, according to The Hill.
Ramirez’s Reimagining Safety Act, introduced last month, would go further by dismantling the Department of Homeland Security, abolishing ICE and Customs and Border Protection, and creating a new Department of Community Safety. Other functions would be transferred to agencies such as the Departments of Justice and Transportation. Ramirez has described deaths in ICE and CBP custody and during deportations as “the reason DHS must be dismantled and something new must take its place.”
The White House has said that there have been more than 605,000 deportations of illegal migrants under the second Trump administration so far and another 1.9 million illegal migrants have self-deported.
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Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage. Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network Christina Botteri contributed to this report.
