SouthernWorldwide.com – A Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday became contentious when Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin engaged in a heated exchange. The disagreement escalated to the point where Van Hollen had to tell Mullin to “calm down.”
The friction began when Van Hollen accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of exhibiting a “pattern” of abuse in its enforcement of immigration laws. He cited several recent instances of shootings involving DHS officers, including cases involving Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan national, and activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
Secretary Mullin contested Van Hollen’s assertion, describing the claim of a “pattern” as an “exaggeration of words.” He argued that three incidents do not constitute a pattern, especially when considering the average number of encounters DHS handles daily.
“Oh, I would say three in a row is a pattern,” Van Hollen retorted. Mullin countered, “No, sir… a pattern of three people when we average 1900 a day is not a pattern.”
Van Hollen remained firm in his belief that a pattern existed. As the two individuals spoke over each other, Van Hollen expressed his frustration, suggesting they consult a dictionary and set aside semantics, as the issue represented a significant problem.
He then pressed Mullin to commit to sharing evidence from the federal officer-involved shootings with Minnesota authorities. Van Hollen voiced his concern that the administration might not be willing to share critical information, making it difficult to trust their commitment to an independent investigation.
“It sounds like you’re not willing to share evidence with the state authorities who are trying to get to the bottom of this. And I will just say, Mr. Secretary, that given the statements that came out of this administration, including the White House, it is hard to trust this administration to do an independent investigation,” Van Hollen stated.
Mullin responded pointedly, “But yet you trust your last administration?” He further elaborated, “I’m just saying if we’re calling an apple what an apple is and an orange what an orange is, don’t sit there and start cherry-picking one administration to believe and another administration not to believe.”
In response to the escalating tension, Van Hollen raised his hands and implored, “Mr. Secretary, just, just please calm down.”
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Earlier in the hearing, Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, questioned Mullin about the DHS’s compliance with court orders. Murphy highlighted a federal judge’s claim that ICE had violated nearly 100 orders in Minnesota. He also criticized the DHS for what he described as wasteful spending, specifically mentioning the construction of “massive detention centers.”
Murphy directly asked Mullin for a commitment to abide by court rulings. “Now that you are on the job, can you commit to us that if a court judges something ICE is doing, something DHS is doing as illegal, unconstitutional, tells you to stop, that you will comply with the court order?” he inquired.
Mullin stated, “We will never break the Constitution, and we’re not going to break the law, but we’re going to enforce our nation’s laws, and we’re going to enforce the laws that you guys passed and that we implement. We will never go outside that. And if we do, we’ll hold each other accountable for that.”
Murphy pressed for a clearer answer, noting that Mullin’s response did not explicitly confirm compliance with court orders. “But that doesn’t sound like the same thing as committing that you will obey a court order,” Murphy stated. “Will you, or will you not implement court orders?”
Mullin expressed reservations about court rulings, suggesting that some courts appear to be politicized. “If we didn’t think courts were politicized, then I would probably be able to answer that. But we see courts over and over again that use their bench for their political opinion, not just the rule of law,” he explained.
He cautioned Murphy against misrepresenting his position, stating, “Don’t put words in my mouth… What I’m saying is we will enforce the law, and we’re never going to break the Constitution.”
Murphy, addressing his colleagues on the committee, expressed concern. “Listen, if you’re a Republican or Democrat on this committee, you should be really, really freaked out,” he remarked.
Mullin, in turn, suggested that the concern should be directed towards the court rulings themselves. “We should be really concerned about the rulings that come out of the courts, and how often they get overturned,” he retorted.
