Markwayne Mullin Quietly Reshapes DHS Deportation Ops and Orders Removal of Kristi Noem Airport Videos

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, appointed by President Trump, has directed the DHS to carry out the administration’s mass‑deportation agenda with far fewer public displays. Within three months he has scaled back high‑profile raids, reduced visible immigration arrests in major cities, and halted plans to expand large detention warehouses. The agency now relies more on agreements that let state and local police help identify and detain immigrants already in custody for other offenses, aiming for “quieter and smarter” operations.

In a separate action, Mullin sent an email to U.S. Customs and Border Protection requesting that any remaining airport security‑checkpoint videos featuring his predecessor, former DHS secretary Kristi Noem, be taken down immediately. The videos, which promoted Noem’s aggressive immigration stance, had continued to run months after she was fired in March. Mullin asked for confirmation that the material had been removed, underscoring his effort to distance the agency from the previous administration’s publicity‑heavy approach.