The performance of the Department of Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin has become a Rorschach test for Donald Trump’s MAGA followers, who have already expressed widely conflicting opinions about the job he has been doing, one month after he replaced controversial Kristi Noem.
According to the Washington Post's David Nakamura, some conservative anti-immigration advocates understand the political constraints Mullin faces after Noem's controversial tenure cratered Trump's immigration approval ratings. But another faction wants immediate, aggressive action regardless of political consequences.
Ousted Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino is leading the charge against Mullin.
Bovino, who led enforcement operations in Chicago and Los Angeles before being fired amid the fallout from the fatal Minneapolis shootings, went public Monday during an X Spaces chat with a stinging critique, writing, "There is not mass deportation taking place, unfortunately, I think [Trump's] advisers told him to push mass deportations down, and whether they will start up again after the midterms, I don't have a lot of confidence that it will."
The report notes that Bovino claimed Border Patrol had plans to massively ramp up nationwide deportation sweeps after the Minneapolis operations, but those plans were "thwarted for political reasons."
The message is resonating with MAGA influencers, the Post is reporting. Controversial podcaster Benny Johnson invited Bovino onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in late March, calling him a "hero to the America First movement." Former "Superman" actor Dean Cain made a public appearance to shake his hand.
Conservative influencer Nick Sortor, who has 1.5 million followers, amplified the pressure on Mullin by excitedly complaining, "I truly don't care about the short term political ramifications of mass deportations. If grown men's tummies hurt over third worlders being sent home, they'll have to get over it WE CANNOT SAVE AMERICA WITHOUT MASS DEPORTATIONS."
Pro-enforcement conservatives are frustrated with the administration. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, expressed exasperation with the lack of large-scale workplace enforcement operations, but didn't lay all the blame at the feet of Mullin.
"The problem there isn't really Mullin — it's probably the president," Krikorian admitted to the Post. "Trump has said 'our hospitality industry needs these people. You can't generate significant amounts of self-deportation without large-scale, sustained, work-related enforcement.'"
Krikorian acknowledged it's too early to judge Mullin's overall performance, but he offered a veiled criticism of Noem's approach: claiming her "performative nature of enforcement" wasn't politically sustainable.