ICE arrest confusion exposes tensions between Trump and Homeland Security Secretary, as debate grows within Republican Party

After the revelation of an alleged internal order from ICE to halt detentions of immigrants without criminal records, Donald Trump personally called a correspondent for Fox News as soon as the confusion came to light. The president wanted to clarify that the agency would continue to detain any undocumented person, regardless of whether they had a criminal record. That frustration, as reported by CNN, also targeted Markwayne Mullin, the Secretary of Homeland Security, behind closed doors.

A source familiar with the incident told the outlet that "Mullin is definitely out of step with President Trump and the base on immigration." Other sources at CNN claim that Mullin would privately support moving away from so-called "collateral detentions" — that is, the arrests of people who were simply near a target during an operation, although in public he reiterates the hardline stance demanded by the Trump administration.

The clash dates back further. In June, Trump had become angry when ICE suspended most of its transit stops following two fatal shootings in Texas and Maine. He reversed that pause almost immediately, annoyed that his own base had interpreted it as a sign that the administration was softening its stance. The recent report by The Daily Wire on internal confusion at ICE sparked similar discontent in the White House.

Mullin, a former senator from Oklahoma, took office just six months ago, when Trump removed Kristi Noem from her post. His tenure, so far, has not been entirely successful. The White House withdrew — without providing further explanation — the nomination of Lance Schroyer, Mullin's own choice to lead ICE, after the nomination stalled in the Senate. Fox asked him about this earlier this month, and Mullin tried to downplay it.

"We still have an acting director there and ICE's mission doesn't change. Lance is a very good man. The truth is the president gets to pick his team, and I support the president doing this. The White House decided to go a different way," he said.

However, a Trump adviser sent a harsh anonymous message to CNN about Mullin's actual standing today: "Ultimately, Mullin is no longer a principal — he's a staffer to the president. He's had a hard time coming to terms with that, like many others before him."

The Department of Homeland Security paid little attention to the anonymous comments. A spokesperson told CNN that "We are all focused on delivering on the president's mission to deport illegal aliens and are all the same page. Anyone who says otherwise is just trying to sow division and create an illusion of chaos." White House spokesperson Lauren Bis also publicly backed Mullin, describing him as someone who "has helped deliver the most secure border in history and shattered ICE arrest records."

All this friction is unfolding just weeks before the midterm elections, and the political noise surrounding ICE already has other key players. The Republican representative from Florida, María Elvira Salazar, distanced herself from the White House weeks earlier, noting that 50% of those detained by ICE in July "had no criminal record." This week, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall joined the fray, denouncing that local law enforcement in the southwestern part of the state did not receive "advance notice or the level of cooperation" they expected from ICE operations, which caused "mass disruptions to local communities and businesses" in the agricultural sector.

Meanwhile, the numbers show no sign of slowing down. ICE detained nearly 51,000 people in August — a new monthly record under this administration — just one month after surpassing the 46,000 detentions recorded in July.