Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin used his address on the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to call attention to the importance of the Department of Homeland Security in protecting the nation from terrorists.
“This is a very humbling experience for me because, on one hand, it’s a time of reflection when you look at 25 years of a day that all of us will remember; it changed our lives,” Mullin said. “And then in another way, it’s honestly a time that we look at the success of the Department of Homeland Security, because for 25 years we prevented it from happening again.”
Mullin’s message came from his speech at the DHS 9/11 memorial ceremony on Friday, in which the department honored the victims, families, and first responders of the al Qaeda terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Congress and then-President George W. Bush created DHS in the wake of the attacks to protect the homeland from all types of threats, including terrorist attacks.
Mullin announced that under President Donald Trump’s second term in office alone, DHS has arrested over 2,150 terrorists.
On the quarter-century anniversary of the attacks that prompted the creation of DHS, Mullin warned against the public’s politicization of the agency’s image as it has faced intensified public scrutiny under the second Trump administration. He said the agency is filled with 270,000 “true patriots” whose mission every day is to “make sure it never happens again.”
The secretary then turned his speech to address the topics of sanctuary cities and pushback from Democrats over the Trump administration’s strict immigration agenda.
“It’s tough to sometimes fight — and I’m not trying to get political here, but I will — sanctuary cities, where they don’t want us to go into, and they’re harboring and abetting activities just like this,” Mullin said. “They can say it’s for humanitarian purposes, but the truth is, when you become a sanctuary city, and you’re not supporting law enforcement, you’re not allowing law enforcement to do their job, it’s a safe haven that incubates terrorist activity.”
Under Trump’s tenure, Democrats have attempted to roll back Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding in the wake of the administration’s enforcement operations, putting DHS on ice for a 76-day shutdown in early 2026.
Democrats have pointed to the killings of two citizens in Minneapolis by immigration officers, arguing the administration’s immigration enforcement operations went too far. Mullin stepped in to lead the agency after Trump fired former Secretary Kristi Noem, who led the department when the killings occurred.
Mullin asked the crowd why the DHS has become a political issue, saying, “We’re taking care of your backyard.” He argued that some politicians argue against the department to “score political points.”
“If we take care of the small criminals, they’ll never become large criminals, and those large criminals will never turn into terrorists,” Mullin said. “If we can secure our border, we can keep the 2,150 terrorists from coming into our country. It shouldn’t be political. And if anything, when we start looking at the 25th anniversary, if there’s anything we should agree on, it should be that. Why should the Department of Homeland Security be controversial?”
TRUMP HONORS THE FALLEN OF THE 9/11 TERRORIST ATTACKS DURING PENTAGON SPEECH
DHS’s ceremony was one of many ceremonies to honor the victims, law enforcement heroes, and survivors of 9/11 on Friday’s 25th anniversary.
Trump gave remarks from the Pentagon on Friday as well.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
