We're not there to round up mass individuals, but we are always looking for the worst of the worst.
As the United States prepares to host the FIFA World Cup across eleven cities this summer, newly appointed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has drawn a careful line between security operations and mass immigration enforcement — a distinction that carries enormous weight in a nation still reckoning with the human costs of aggressive deportation policy. Speaking to CBS News, Mullin acknowledged ICE's presence at the event while insisting the agency's focus will be on counterfeiting, serious criminals, and security threats rather than the rounding up of undocumented migrants. His words arrive at a fragile institutional moment: a department still healing from a historic 76-day shutdown, depleted of thousands of workers, and now asked to secure one of the world's largest sporting events while hurricane season looms.
- The question of whether the World Cup would become a mass deportation operation has hung over the event's planning, and Mullin's carefully worded reassurance does not fully close the door on individual arrests.
- A 76-day government shutdown — the longest in American history — gutted DHS capacity, costing TSA nearly nine percent of its workforce and stripping CISA of over a thousand cybersecurity professionals.
- Mullin is attempting to reframe ICE not as an immigration dragnet but as a law enforcement agency with a customs mandate, pointing to its longstanding presence at events like the Super Bowl.
- The department now faces a convergence of crises: World Cup security across eleven cities, the opening of hurricane season, a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, and the political fallout from the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of immigration agents.
- Another shutdown, Mullin warned, would create exploitable national security vulnerabilities across all 22 DHS components at precisely the moment adversaries would be watching most closely.
When DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin sat down with CBS News this week, the central question was one that has unsettled both civil liberties advocates and international observers: would the FIFA World Cup, arriving on American soil this summer across eleven cities, become a staging ground for mass immigration arrests? Mullin's answer was measured. ICE will be present — as it always is at major sporting events like the Super Bowl — but the agency's mission will center on counterfeit goods, serious criminals, and individuals flagged through Interpol or terrorist watchlists. "We're not there to go round up mass individuals," he said, "but we are always looking for the worst of the worst."
The interview came at a moment of deep institutional strain. DHS has spent the past several months absorbing the damage of a 76-day government shutdown — the longest in American history — which left TSA officers walking off the job over unpaid wages, Coast Guard facilities unable to pay their bills, and CISA shedding over a thousand cybersecurity employees. TSA has lost nearly nine percent of its workforce. These losses are not merely bureaucratic — they represent real gaps in the department's ability to execute its mission during one of the most demanding seasons it faces.
Mullin was direct about the consequences of another shutdown: with 22 components all tied to national security, a funding lapse during the World Cup and hurricane season would hand adversaries a window of vulnerability the United States cannot afford. On FEMA, he signaled a leaner federal posture, urging states to own their preparation and recovery — pointing to Florida under Ron DeSantis as the model of a state that understands its role. And on the hantavirus outbreak circulating aboard a cruise ship, he offered a single clear message: "This is not COVID."
What emerges from the interview is a portrait of a department trying to reclaim its footing — managing the political toxicity of immigration enforcement, the operational wounds of a historic shutdown, and the logistical weight of securing a global event, all at once. Whether DHS can execute that mission without becoming the story itself remains the open question of the summer ahead.
Markwayne Mullin, the newly installed Secretary of Homeland Security, sat down with CBS News this week to clarify a distinction that has become increasingly fraught in American politics: the difference between immigration enforcement and security operations. The question at hand was direct—will Immigration and Customs Enforcement use the FIFA World Cup, coming to American soil this summer across eleven cities, as cover for mass arrests of undocumented migrants? Mullin's answer was carefully calibrated. ICE will be present. Arrests are possible. But the agency will not be there to "round up" non-citizens.
The timing of this interview matters. The Department of Homeland Security has endured months of institutional turbulence—a 76-day shutdown, the longest in American history, followed by the departure of former Secretary Kristi Noem and ongoing controversy over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics, particularly following the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis at the hands of immigration agents. Now, as the department enters one of its busiest seasons—the World Cup, hurricane season, and a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship—Mullin is attempting to reset expectations about what DHS will and will not do.
When pressed on ICE's role at the World Cup, Mullin pivoted to the agency's broader mandate. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he noted, has always been present at major sporting events like the Super Bowl. What do you find at such venues? Counterfeit products, counterfeit tickets, counterfeit clothing. The agency's job, he argued, extends beyond immigration—it includes customs enforcement and the pursuit of serious criminals. If law enforcement encounters people wanted for murder, drug trafficking, or individuals flagged on terrorist watchlists or through Interpol, those arrests will happen. But that is not the primary mission. "We're not there to go round up mass individuals," Mullin said, "but we are always looking for the worst of the worst."
The secretary also addressed the institutional damage inflicted by the recent shutdown. For 76 days, DHS operated in a state of managed crisis. Hundreds of TSA officers abandoned their posts due to unpaid paychecks. Coast Guard facilities faced closure from unpaid bills. Offices ran out of basic supplies. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency lost 1,100 employees over the past year. TSA has lost 8.6 percent of its workforce. These are not abstract numbers—they represent real capacity lost at a moment when the department is tasked with securing eleven World Cup venues, preparing for hurricane season, and monitoring emerging public health threats. "At some point you have to quit being proactive," Mullin said of the shutdown's final weeks. "We quit having the ability to be proactive."
Mullin was blunt about the stakes. Another shutdown would pose significant national security consequences. DHS has 22 components, all dealing with security in some form. When the department cannot pay its people or operate its systems, adversaries do not stand down—they exploit the vulnerability. The secretary also drew a sharp distinction regarding the hantavirus outbreak now circulating on a cruise ship. "This is not COVID," he said, emphasizing that while DHS is coordinating with health officials and the White House, Americans should not panic.
On the question of FEMA and hurricane season, Mullin offered a message to governors: the federal government will show up, but states must shoulder their share of responsibility. The Trump administration has signaled a shift toward a leaner FEMA that places greater burden on state preparation and recovery. Most governors, Mullin said, understand this arrangement. One governor, whom he declined to name, has been difficult. But the message is clear—FEMA is not designed to handle every stage of recovery, and states cannot expect the federal government to solve all their problems. Florida, under Governor Ron DeSantis, has become the model Mullin points to: a state that understands its role and executes it effectively.
As Mullin prepares the department for the months ahead, he is managing competing pressures: the need to maintain security operations at a massive international event, the institutional wounds from a historic shutdown, staffing losses that constrain operational capacity, and the political reality that immigration enforcement remains one of the most polarizing aspects of his agency's work. The World Cup will be a test of whether DHS can execute its security mission without becoming, in Mullin's view, the villain that media and political opponents have made it out to be.
Citas Notables
At some point you have to quit being proactive. Towards the end of the shutdown, we quit having the ability to be proactive.— DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, on the impact of the 76-day shutdown
We're still going to show up. Absolutely we're going to show up.— DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, responding to concerns about FEMA's presence during hurricane season
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
When you say ICE won't be there to "round up" people, what exactly does that mean in practice? How do agents on the ground know the difference?
It's about intent and scale. An agent who encounters someone at a stadium and discovers they're wanted for a serious crime will make an arrest. But ICE isn't going to station officers at entry points with the goal of checking immigration status. The distinction is between reactive enforcement—you find a problem, you act—and proactive sweeps designed to maximize arrests.
But doesn't that distinction collapse the moment an undocumented person is arrested for something minor, or for being in the country illegally?
That's the tension Mullin is trying to navigate. He's saying the primary mission is security and customs enforcement. If someone gets caught in that net, so be it. But the department isn't organizing itself around immigration arrests.
The shutdown seems to have broken something fundamental. Can DHS actually do its job right now?
That's what worries Mullin. You lose 1,100 cybersecurity people, 8.6 percent of TSA, and suddenly you're choosing which missions to prioritize. You can't be proactive anymore. You're reactive, stretched thin, and your adversaries know it.
Is FEMA really going to show up for hurricanes, or is this a warning that states are on their own?
FEMA will show up. But Mullin is signaling a philosophical shift—the federal government isn't a disaster recovery service. States have to prepare, respond, and recover. The federal role is to help you get back on your feet, not to rebuild your entire state.
What about the hantavirus? Is that actually under control?
Mullin wants to separate it from COVID panic. It's serious enough that DHS is getting daily updates and coordinating with health officials, but it's not a pandemic threat. It's a contained outbreak on a ship that requires monitoring and response, not mass mobilization.