Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s recent appearance on Fox News’ Hannity has once again raised questions about how sanctuary cities are releasing convicted criminals, as he urged local officials to work with federal immigration authorities and not against them.

Markwayne Mullin renewed the Trump administration’s criticism of sanctuary cities this week as he argued that local officials were failing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

During a May 19 interview on Hannity, Mullin claimed that he receives daily reports on how convicted criminals are released from sanctuary jurisdictions instead of being held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He said:

“Every single day, Sean, I get a report of criminals that were convicted and released by sanctuary cities and sanctuary states. They were rapists, they were child molesters, they were murderers, they were drug dealers.”

He added:

“And all we ask is that these cities cooperate with us and give us the, and honor our detainer. Because when we find out they’ve got them, we ask them, hey, hold on to them, and we’ll come pick them up. And they go ahead and release them in the streets, and then we have to go find them again. And if you keep, if you think about this, seven of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with DHS and ICE. And we, if they will simply cooperate with us, we can bring their cities safe again.”

While Markwayne Mullin talked about the seven safest cities cooperating with DHS and ICE, he did not cite specific cities or data to support his argument.

The interview echoed the Trump administration’s sentiment and continued efforts pushing for tougher immigration enforcement policies. This would require a much greater cooperation between local governments and federal agencies.

A snippet of the interview was later shared by the DHS on X, where it reiterated Mullin’s remark and added:

“The men and women of @ICEgov put their lives on the line to protect our nation — and we need sanctuary politicians to cooperate with us to remove these violent criminals from our communities.”

Mullin further accused Democratic leaders of prioritizing undocumented immigrants over public safety. He said:

“The Democrats right now, this radical left Democrat party is for open borders, and they’re more interested in protecting the criminals than they are protecting the constituents.”

In April 2026, Mullin also floated the possibility of restricting customs processing at international airports located in sanctuary cities. According to him, the federal government should reconsider providing customs services in cities that decline to cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts. During an appearance on Special Report:

“If they’re a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into their city?”

As the debate over immigration enforcement and sanctuary cities intensified, Mullin’s remark became significant and was likely to draw strong reactions from both supporters and critics.

X user @Kathleen Eynon wrote:

“”Sanctuary” cities are unconstitutional. These politicians should be arrested along with the illegals they love so much.”

X user @lasdbhc wrote:

“It’s really simple. Corrupt, depraved elite leftist globalists don’t want American citizens to be safe. And it’s ALL INTENTIONAL!”

Meanwhile, critics also echoed their emotions on the post. X user @Cowboy Joe wrote:

“Dude…the orange guy in the white house, that he messed up, totally did the same thing when he released the domestic terrorists that have since been arrested on everything you just described.”