Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin touted zero migrant releases after 17 months of Trump enforcement and blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s lawsuits for pushing border wall work into 2027.

Mullin visited an undisclosed stretch of the Arizona border on Thursday and framed the stop as proof that President Trump’s immigration crackdown is delivering results the prior administration never produced. He toured a section where wall construction had recently finished and used the visit to draw a sharp contrast with the Biden years.

The New York Post reported that Mullin called zero releases of migrants caught trying to enter illegally during the administration’s first 17 months a major milestone. At the same location, he said, between 500,000 and 1 million migrants had been apprehended and released under Biden, a figure that may never be pinned down because of spotty records.

That drop to zero is the core of the story Mullin wanted voters to hear. The secretary cast secure borders as the first step of national security, not an optional extra.

Mullin ties border control to national security

Mullin did not soften the critique of the previous White House. He said hundreds of thousands of migrants had slipped in undetected under Biden and that the country paid the price in lost control.

He put the stakes in plain terms for people living with the results.

Mullin said:

"Under the Biden administration, there was no national security, because you can’t have national security if you don’t know who’s inside the country."

He followed with the standard he says the Trump team is now meeting.

Mullin stated:

"A secure border, and knowing who’s entering your country, is where you can start actually saying we have national security."

Federal authorities, he added, have caught 2,268 known terrorists who entered the country illegally since Trump returned to the White House. That number landed as a direct warning about what open-border policies allow in.

The same enforcement focus has shown up elsewhere in the administration’s record, including when the DOJ charged 16 people across seven states for illegal voting and election fraud.

Wall progress hits legal headwinds

Construction of Trump’s long-promised wall recently reached completion on the stretch Mullin toured. The secretary had earlier projected the first wall finished by June of next year. That timeline is now potentially pushed to the end of 2027.

Mullin blamed a wave of lawsuits from environmental groups and anti-Trump politicians for the slowdown. He named California Gov. Gavin Newsom among the officials whose legal challenges have created obstacles to land access.

He rejected the idea that stewardship of the land and border security are enemies of each other.

Mullin said:

"National security should be first. We want to be good stewards of the land too. But because we have these activist judges, because we have areas like that, it’s slowing down our ability to gain access to some of this land."

Legal fights over executive authority are not limited to the border. The Supreme Court is weighing Trump’s bid to block a DOGE records release, another front where process can stall policy.

Sanctuary rules draw fire from DHS chief

Mullin also took aim at sanctuary policies in California and New York that restrict local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. He argued those rules hinder the deportation and enforcement agenda and leave American communities carrying the cost.

His language stayed locked on consequences for lawful residents.

Mullin said:

"American people deserve to be safe in their cities, in their towns, on their streets, in their neighborhoods, at their schools, while they’re shopping. And every single murder that takes place at the hands of an illegal is 100% preventable."

He kept pressing the same point on sanctuary jurisdictions.

Mullin stated:

"I get that some people may not like immigration enforcement, but the truth is, we’re a nation of laws. The sanctuary cities and sanctuary states do nothing to help people’s lives out. They actually cause more problems and take freedom away from American citizens who are trying to live their lives."

That insistence on lawful process matches other Trump moves that reverse prior enforcement choices, such as when Trump signed onstage pardons for Alaska diesel shop owners charged under Biden-era Clean Air Act cases.

Voters see the enforcement contrast

Mullin’s Arizona stop was built to show a before-and-after picture. Under Biden, the stretch saw mass apprehension-and-release traffic. Under Trump, Mullin says releases at that location fell to zero while known terrorist encounters are being logged and stopped.

Wall segments are going up even as lawsuits stretch the calendar. Sanctuary policies in blue states still block local help for federal removals. The secretary’s message was that national security starts with knowing who is inside the country and enforcing the law without apology.

Political fights over the rules of the game continue in parallel lanes, including when Trump called on Alaska voters to scrap ranked-choice voting he labeled a Democrat scam.

Secure borders, finished wall sections, and an end to catch-and-release are not abstract talking points for the communities living with the results. They are the baseline of ordered government. Mullin’s border tour made the case that the Trump team is finally treating them that way, and that obstruction from Newsom-style lawsuits and sanctuary rules is what still stands in the way.