Markwayne Mullin Told Chris Murphy Exactly What His Anti ICE Speeches Are Doing to Officers

June 6, 2026 Cat2, The Media
Copyright Lawrey via shutterstock

Chris Murphy once told a TV audience that the people Democrats care about most are the "undocumented Americans" in this country.

That was two years ago – and now Murphy is standing in front of Trump's ex-senator, ex-MMA fighter DHS Secretary demanding to know why ICE keeps enforcing the law.

Mullin told him exactly why – and used an 8,000 percent figure that left Murphy with nothing to say.

Mullin Scrapped His Opening Statement to Go After Murphy Directly

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin walked into the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 2 with a prepared opening statement.

He never used it.

The moment Murphy finished his opening attack – calling Mullin's agency lawless, unconstitutional, and a threat to the rule of law – Mullin set his notes aside and looked directly at the senator from Connecticut.

"I do have an opening statement here, but wow, Senator Murphy, the dangerous claims you made there are flat wrong," Mullin said.

He didn't stop there.

"We're doing the job that Congress gave us the authority to do, and our men and women out there every single day is enforcing laws,” he said. “If you don't like the laws, you can change them. We're not choosing which laws we enforce. We're simply enforcing the law. Period. Full stop."

Murphy had no answer for that.

The Death Threat Numbers Murphy Brought on Himself

Mullin then dropped a number that Democrats like Murphy have spent a year pretending doesn't exist.

"When you throw out reckless terms and you start referring to our actions as being dangerous, unconstitutional, and lawless – that's why our agents' death threats are up by 8,000 percent."

That's a DHS statistic, not a talking point.

The department's own figures show ICE officers faced a 1,347% increase in assaults and an 8,000% increase in death threats during the first year of Trump's second term – compared to the same period under Biden.

Mullin kept going.

"When you start looking at assaults on our officers, they're up by 1,300 percent. Senator Murphy, is that what you want? I don't think it is. I really don't, but I understand the political theater," he added.

Someone needed to say it.

Democrats spent two years comparing ICE agents to the Nazi Gestapo, calling them slave patrols, and encouraging illegal aliens to resist arrest.

Tim Walz called ICE a "modern-day Gestapo."

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to "get the f— out of Minneapolis."

Ilhan Omar called for abolishing the agency entirely.

Then those same Democrats show up to Senate hearings confused about why officers are getting attacked.

Murphy Has Already Told You Who He Works For

The most important thing to understand about Tuesday's hearing is that Murphy's performance was never about the rule of law.

He told you exactly who he represents two years ago, on camera, on MSNBC.

"That's been a failed play for 20 years," he said, discussing Democrat immigration strategy. "And it has failed to deliver for the people we care about most – the undocumented Americans that are in this country."

There are no undocumented Americans.

There are Americans, and there are people who entered the country illegally.

Murphy knows the difference – he just doesn't care about it.

Mullin called him out for that too.

"If you have bigger political ambitions, fine, just say it, but don't do it at the expense of my officers."

Murphy is reportedly eyeing a 2028 presidential run.

Tuesday's hearing was audition tape – a performance designed to fire up the open-borders base while ICE agents and their families absorb death threats at home.

Mullin landed the cleanest shot of the day when he turned the funding fight directly back on Murphy.

"You haven't funded my officers. CBP and ICE have been willing to do the job for free. Why? Because of a reckless administration prior to President Trump coming in and saving America."

Democrats voted to withhold DHS funding earlier this year, leaving the men and women enforcing immigration law to work without paychecks.

Those officers showed up anyway.

Murphy came to Tuesday's hearing to lecture them about the Constitution.

He picked the wrong secretary to try that with.

Sources:

  • Neil Munro, "Watch DHS Chief Markwayne Mullin Trash Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy," Breitbart, June 2, 2026.
  • "Radical Rhetoric by Sanctuary Politicians Leads to an Unprecedented 1,300% Increase in Assaults Against ICE Officers and a 3,200% Increase in Vehicular Attacks," Department of Homeland Security, January 8, 2026.
  • "ICE Officers Face an 8,000% Increase in Death Threats Against Them and Their Families," Department of Homeland Security, January 26, 2026.
  • Hanna Panreck, "Democratic Senator Reveals 'People We Care About Most' Are 'Undocumented Americans' in US," Fox News, February 8, 2024.
  • "FAIR Highlights Disastrous Consequences of Anti-ICE Rhetoric in Minneapolis," Federation for American Immigration Reform, January 16, 2026.