Mullin: White House Seeking Legal Ways To Cut Sanctuary Funding

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin addressed the nation Tuesday, stating that the White House is actively searching for legal methods to cut off federal money from sanctuary states and cities that block cooperation on immigration enforcement. He made these remarks while appearing on "The Ingraham Angle," where he also pointed out that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will keep deporting people regardless of local sanctuary rules.

Mullin explained the timing of his comments to host Laura Ingraham with a specific detail. "Literally 20 minutes ago, I was sitting in the Oval Office of the president, and we were having this conversation about how do we withhold funding legally from these sanctuary cities," he said. He questioned why federal funds continue to flow into airports within these jurisdictions when immigration processing happens there. "Why are we allowing these sanctuary cities to still get funding from the federal government when it comes to, let's say, their airport?" he asked. "It doesn't make any sense to me."

Since President Donald Trump started his second term, the Department of Homeland Security has run multiple deportation campaigns. The latest sweep in New York, labeled "Rotten Apple," produced more than 2,100 arrests. Mullin told Fox News that among those detained were individuals accused of heinous crimes like murder, rape, child sexual abuse, and drug trafficking. One arrestee was a Ukrainian national with convictions for kidnapping, abduction resulting in death, criminal possession of a weapon, and murder. Another suspect from Colombia had prior charges involving "course of sexual conduct against a child" and actions meant to injure a minor under the age of 17.

Mullin insisted that his team does not choose which laws to follow. "I enforce the laws that Congress passed," he stated. He added that it is often liberal politicians, sanctuary states, and sanctuary cities that complain most loudly about the daily work of his ICE agents. The administration says they are now looking into how to hold federal funding hostage for places refusing to uphold the law.