Markwayne Mullin is the new head of ICE, a cowboy of Cherokee origin who proposes solving matters with fists

Mullin was born in 1977 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Registered as a citizen of the Cherokee Nationis the only member of the Native American ethnic groups to occupy a seat in the Senate.

President Donald Trump announced the Oklahoma senator’s candidacy in early March. It was his proposal to replace Kristi Noemceased after the Minneapolis riots that resulted in the deaths of René Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents.

Noem then assured that the agents had acted appropriately to repel the “domestic terrorism“, although the videos of both actions showed that, in neither case, the victims posed a threat to security.

The revolt in Minneapolis sparked a wave of nationwide protests. Trump’s popularity had reached its lowest levels in previous months and the president decided to suspend the publication of polls that measure his approval level.

a tough guy

The profile of the new head of DHS is that of a tough man who represents rural America: a cowboyproud of his Cherokee origin. He grew up in a large family on a ranch. Westville, Oklahoma. His father ran a small plumbing business.

According to Britannicaas a child he underwent several operations to correct a birth deformity that prevented him from walking. He also suffered from speech disorders and turned to sports as a way to reaffirm his identity: he practiced wrestlingcoming to stand out in the youth leagues.

The young Markwayne took over the family business when his father’s health prevented him from working. Under his leadership, it grew to become a consolidated company that employed hundreds of employees.

At almost 30 years old he resumed the practice of wrestling and martial arts. He turned professional and in 2006 and 2007 he fought in the ring. He also became popular for hosting a radio program on a local station.

Mullin officially entered politics in 2012, when he was elected to represent the Oklahoma’s 2nd congressional district. His time on camera will be remembered for his cowboy outfit and his furious fight to suspend financing of ‘Obamacare’, Barack Obama’s health care project.

In the 2016 primaries, he initially supported Marco Rubio. However, after Trump’s victory, he joined his presidential campaign to attract the native vote in favor of the candidate and became one of his most loyal followers.

He New York Times claims relationship with President Trump strengthened on a personal level in 2020: Mullin’s teenage son suffered a serious brain injury as a result of a wrestling match. The president called him to inquire about the boy’s condition and offered him his personal plane to transfer him to a center.

Mullin backed claims of voter fraud in 2020. He also became a staunch defender of his friend Donald when the Democrats tried to put him under impeachment.

The experts in the ins and outs of White House They assure that the president’s fundamental criterion for choosing the people in his circle is the loyalty. If so, Markwayne Mullin has been seen as one of the greatest deserving of Trump’s trust.

The American media describes the Oklahoma senator as a politician loyal to ‘Trumpism’, combative and who shows off his rural identity. It boasts of having grown from below and of its native roots.

In 2023 he starred in a picturesque confrontation with the union leader Sean O’Brien. During one hearing, Mullin stood up from his seat and challenged O’Brien: “This is the place. If you want to shut your mouth, we’re two consenting adults, we can figure it out right now.”

With his gesture, he invited his rival to get into a fight in the hearing chamber, while the president of the Commission ordered him to return to his seat. In a later interview, Mullin asserted that this was the way to settle matters in Oklahoma and that society should be open to challenging each other to duels to resolve disputes.

It’s clear that the senator from Oklahoma is a tough guy. Defend the radical immigration policies of its president: the wall, deportations, the expansion of the power of ICE or the cutting of funds to ‘sanctuary cities’.

When the altercations occurred in Minneapolisthe new DHS secretary declared that ICE agents are “red-blooded patriots” who do hard work to keep the country safe. He blamed the Democratic leaders for encouraging the threats against them.

Immigration policy

To gain Senate approval, Mullin underwent prior questioning before the National Security Committee. In it, he did not propose “softening” the actions of ICE, but rather containing the conflict by removing its interventions from the media spotlight, but without reducing the pressure.

The biggest challenge facing the DHS secretary is, precisely, financing your department. Under his direction is not only ICE, but also most of the large federal border control, immigration, emergency and transportation security agencies.

DHS funding

It is estimated that, as a whole, the Department of Homeland Security has more than 240,000 employees, including civilian and uniformed personnel. The budget requested for this year is about 100 billion dollarsincluding emergency funds.

The Department’s regular resources They sold out in mid-February. Since then, Congress and the Senate have failed to pass the new budget. Essential functions continue to operate, but thousands of workers do so without pay.

Mullin intends to unblock the negotiations by modifying operational aspectssuch as the visible identification of agents, the use of body cameras, excluding interventions in schools, churches or hospitals or increasing judicial control of searches. That is to say, it proposes adjustments in form and supervision, but without taking a fundamental turn in the repressive approach.

Compromise formulas have been considered, such as temporary financing or separate the needs of immigration control from the rest of the items. So far none has gathered the 60 votes necessary in the Senate to overcome the blockade.

This situation is responsible for Chaos at US airports: about 50,000 employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have stopped charging more than a month ago. Sickness absences and resignations have skyrocketed and queues to pass checks can last more than 6 hours.

Trump has ordered deploy ICE agents to replace absent workers and support security tasks. The measure has been very controversial and may increase tensions with travelers and the local Administration.