By Michelle Hackman, Josh Dawsey and Tarini Parti

WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has embarked on a wholesale effort to clean house at his embattled department, firing officials closely associated with his predecessor's leadership and reviewing her spending decisions, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mullin's moves follow the ouster of former Secretary Kristi Noem, who attracted unflattering attention for her department's aggressive immigration enforcement -- culminating in the killing of two U.S. citizen protesters in Minneapolis -- as well as her spending millions on a flashy government-run ad campaign prominently featuring herself.

The secretary, who has no prior immigration-related experience, faces the challenging task of improving the department's image ahead of the midterm elections while still implementing President Trump's central campaign promise of mass deportations.

Mullin has told associates that, ahead of November, his primary marching orders are to lower his agency's profile and avoid bad press so the issue of immigration recedes in the public consciousness, according to people familiar with the matter. Polls show voter approval of Trump's handling of immigration to have declined, and the president has told advisers that some of the previous team's moves went too far.

So far, Mullin has directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement not to launch any large or overly aggressive immigration raids, such as those Noem directed in Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, people familiar with his directives said. Many officials inside the department and the White House have been gratified by his lower-key approach, after they came to believe the dramatic raids turned public opinion against Trump's immigration goals and put ICE officers at unnecessary risk.

He has taken a more hands-off approach than Noem, telling sub-agency heads they have the expertise to run their own organizations, according to people familiar with the matter. Noem had sought to funnel decision-making through her office, including a requirement that she had to sign off on any spending decisions over $100,000. Mullin scrapped that rule.

Though many of the administration's outside allies have remained supportive of Mullin, some have said he hasn't put enough attention on Trump's promise to carry out mass deportations.

The number of daily ICE arrests has fallen by several hundred since last winter, at the peak of the operation in Minneapolis, according to people familiar with the internal data.

"What matters are the numbers, and the numbers are still low," said Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, who leads the Mass Deportation Coalition, a group of conservative groups pressuring the administration to do more.

A DHS spokeswoman said ICE wasn't slowing down.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the president's "highest priority has always been the deportation of illegal alien criminals who endanger American communities."

"Secretary Markwayne Mullin is doing a great job continuing to deliver on that objective while also balancing a host of other Homeland Security priorities," she said.

Reversing policies

Mullin has spent his first few weeks quietly reversing many of Noem's policies and personnel decisions. He has removed officials closely allied with Noem and top adviser Corey Lewandowski across the department, including the chief of staff at ICE and the deputy director at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, according to people familiar with the moves. On Thursday, Mike Banks, the Border Patrol chief who was a Noem ally, resigned from his post.

The DHS spokeswoman said personnel changes were part of any transition.

He has encouraged staff to review previously signed contracts and cooperate with the agency's inspector general, which has launched several probes into DHS, according to administration officials. The inspector general's office had grown frustrated by a lack of cooperation from Noem's team, the inspector general wrote in letters to Congress, and the relationship with Mullin has so far been better.

"We appreciate Secretary Mullin's recognition of the value of independent oversight and his support of DHS OIG," said a spokesperson for the office of the inspector general.

The secretary has brought back employees who had been placed on administrative leave by Noem and Lewandowski along with dozens of Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers whose contracts had abruptly been ended by the agency, according to people familiar with the matter.

Under Mullin, Cameron Hamilton, former FEMA chief, who was fired and polygraphed by Noem and Lewandowski, has been renominated for the role by Trump. Hamilton has already been advising the secretary, according to people familiar with the matter, as Mullin tries to balance calls from some in the administration to drastically overhaul the agency with ensuring robust and timely disaster response.

In one instance, Mullin removed some restrictions on a classified inspector general report showing that one of Noem's policy moves, allowing airline passengers to pass airport security without removing their shoes, created new security vulnerabilities in the system, according to a person familiar with the matter. Noem had ordered the report receive a high level of classification and placed restrictions on it so it couldn't be broadly viewed.

A close ally of Trump, Mullin hasn't relied as much on Stephen Miller, the president's deputy chief of staff, to run the department, according to people familiar with the matter. While the two men have had a professional relationship, Mullin has been given more leeway at the agency, the people said.

A White House official said Miller and Mullin speak regularly, and the DHS spokeswoman said the secretary keeps in touch with Trump, Miller, and border czar Tom Homan.

Warehouse plan under review

Pending his own review, Mullin has put high-profile initiatives on pause, including Noem and Lewandowski's plan to build out immigration detention capacity with commercial warehouses.

DHS spent more than $1 billion on warehouse purchases but, under Mullin, the department will likely ultimately move ahead with developing only some of the 11 properties into working detention centers, people familiar with the matter said.

Since he has taken over, DHS is also expected to allow the closure of Florida's controversial "Alligator Alcatraz," one of the state-run facilities Noem had relied on to increase detention capacity.

Vendors were told on Tuesday that the pricey detention center, built on an abandoned airstrip in the Florida Everglades, would be closed this summer, according to people familiar with the matter. Many of the vendors are still seeking to get paid by the state and federal government for their work on the facility, according to a person involved in the operation.

The DHS spokesperson said Florida was a valuable partner and the department "evaluates detention needs and requirements to ensure they meet the latest operational requirements."

This summer, ICE plans to revert to a 12-week training schedule for its new officer recruits, scrapping an accelerated training course the Trump administration adopted to fast-track the hiring of 10,000 new officers. The rushed training came under criticism from Democrats and former law-enforcement officials, who said it would result in putting undertrained officers on the streets.

Instead of going through the criminal histories of recently deported immigrants, as the department often did under Noem, Mullin has been talking up an event Americans are excited about: preparations for the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. The secretary has brought up the issue in his rare TV appearances.

"We're fighting with our hands, we're fighting with our feet," Mullin said in an interview with Fox Business on Monday, "and we're fighting with our brain to make sure that we can protect the FIFA events that are moving forward."

Write to Michelle Hackman at michelle.hackman@wsj.com, Josh Dawsey at Joshua.Dawsey@WSJ.com and Tarini Parti at tarini.parti@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 14, 2026 21:00 ET (01:00 GMT)

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