Markwayne Mullin’s heated hearing over migrant children, DHS warehouse plan

During a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on June 25, 2026, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin engaged in a contentious exchange with Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Rosa DeLauro cited a 2021 report that 3,900 children were separated from their families, to which Mullin retorted, “450,000 kids were lost during the Biden administration, and you didn’t say a word about it.” The back‑and‑forth included the shouted refrain, “Don’t you point your finger at me!” and DeLauro’s demand that the chairman, Rep. Mark Amodei, “put him in his place.” The chairman intervened to restore order, warning that the hearing was not a television sound‑bite session.

Other members, including Rep. Lauren Underwood, questioned DHS’s death‑rate statistics and detention‑center conditions, prompting further heated remarks from Mullin. In a separate line of questioning, Mullin acknowledged that the department’s predecessor, former Oklahoma governor Kristi Noem, may have purchased 11 warehouses for detention use without full due‑diligence. He said the roughly $1 billion of warehouse acquisitions are under review, noting that “some just quite frankly probably won’t work.” The admission signals a possible scaling back of the controversial plan to convert warehouses into immigration detention centers.

Mullin’s demeanor, captured on video as he squeezed a pink stress ball, drew widespread commentary about his temperament, while the hearing highlighted ongoing partisan disputes over U.S. immigration enforcement and the future of DHS detention facilities.