Mullin defends ICE at meeting in Edmond

Alexia Aston

The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK

U.S. Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin defended his agency’s immigration enforcement tactics in a shouting match that escalated at an Edmond event after a former mayor questioned whether the actions of ICE aligned with the teachings of Jesus.

The fiery exchange came after Mullin delivered a speech at an Edmond Chamber of Commerce meeting on Monday, Sept. 28, during a questionand- answer period with audience members.

“I still have a hard time figuring out how a Christian who reads the Bible like I do and listens to Jesus and his teachings can abuse the number of people that your agency abuses,” Randel Shadid told Mullin.

The Republican official interrupted Shadid, saying: “You’re not going to throw out Christian scripture to me and sit there and say that Jesus didn’t say we should obey the nation’s laws.”

The brief exchange ended when police led Shadid, who was mayor of Edmond from1991to1995, out of the building. Shadid did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment about the exchange.

The tense back-and-forth underscored the concerns about Mullin’s temperament when he was nominated to lead the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and carries out President Donald Trump’s

“I still have a hard time figuring out how a Christian who reads the Bible like I do and listens to Jesus and his teachings can abuse the number of people that your agency abuses.”

Randel Shadid Former Edmond mayor

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin greets people during an event sponsored by the Edmond Chamber of Commerce at the Meinders Conference Center on the Oklahoma Christian University campus on Monday, Sept. 28. DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN

mass deportation agenda. He had promised to bring down the temperature of the embattled agency and to get it out of the headlines after a string of high-profile shootings.

Shortly before the shouting match, Mullin likened detaining an undocumented immigrant who’s been in the United States for decades to convicting someone who sexually assaulted a child 35 years ago. He said someone who entered the country illegally broke federal law, and it’s up to the Department of Homeland Security to enforce those laws.

“What about a child rapist [who] raped your child 35 years ago?” Mullin said. “There’s no statute of limitations on the other individual any more.”

He challenged Democrats who’ve called for the abolishment of ICE and Customs and Border Patrol before saying immigration officers have a “target on their back.” Mullin said it wasn’t fair to those federal employees.

“I love this job, because I get to work with a tremendous amount of patriots that regardless of what is going out there in the news cycle, regardless of how many arrows are being thrown at them, they just simply do their job,” he said. Mullin’s statements come after he has weathered several setbacks as he tries to steer the spotlight away from his DHS. He had been in Edmond for the opening of a new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office.

Earlier in September, Trump withdrew his request to appoint Lance Schroyer to lead ICE. Schroyer, a former Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, had been hand-picked for the role by Mullin. Days later, ICE officials shot and wounded a driver in Austin, Texas, as he was attempting to deliver food. ICE officials have said the man was facing a deportation order.

The shooting and others have reignited widespread scrutiny around the agency’s tactics. Mullin has also faced growing pushback from within Republican- dominated states, including Oklahoma.

During the chamber event, Mullin warned people to not believe everything they see in the news, like reports that ICE officers raided meatpacking facilities in southwest Kansas. He said ICE detained 55 people in Kansas over a five-day period.

“But the narrative was, because the left drove it and people got hold of it, is that we were shutting down meat packing plants,” Mullin said.

His remarks were in response to a recent statement from the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, the Kansas Livestock Association and Texas Cattle Feeders Association, which said ICE operations are having a widespread chilling effect on documented workers, which could lead to higher beef prices.

Mullin has faced questions about his leadership of the agency since Trump tapped him in March to take over the role. Critics pointed to Mullin’s combative record in Congress, which included a viral moment from a 2023 Senate hearing when he challenged Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to a fight.

Mullin told the Edmond crowd that every warrant DHS serves is to target “the worst of the worst,” but detaining those people often comes with “collateral criminals.” He said when immigration officers target someone with a warrant, they’re never by themselves.

“How many of you guys see individuals that pull up to a job site and a white F-250 with dents all over it and like 12 people jump out of it to go to work?” Mullin said. At the end of the event, which was widely advertised and open to members of the public, Mullin’s brother and chamber chairman Jamey Mullin said he was told by the secretary’s staff members that the event was “off record.”

The chamber had approved journalists from The Oklahoman to attend and cover the event. A person who identified herself as a member of Mullin’s staff approached a photographer during the event and said he was not allowed to publish anything from it, including the fact that Mullin attended.

Hours later, the Edmond Chamber published a news release about the event, saying it brought “members and community leaders together for an opportunity to hear directly from Secretary Mullin” and to learn about federal issues. Mullin ended his talk after saying that in order for someone to respect the United States, they must also respect the country’s laws.

“If you actually want to talk about Jesus’s teaching, which I’ll be happy to, it’s very clear,” Mullin said. “The president is very clear — not the president — but that Jesus was very clear that you should respect the laws that you’re living. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN