Steve Cortes, former senior advisor and communications spokesman for President Trump during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, is criticizing the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin for comments he made at the National Governors Association summer meeting this week.
At the meeting, Oklahoma Governor and NGA chairman Kevin Stitt (R) asked Mullin if he thinks there’s a way to fix immigration reform in the United States.
Mullin said, “We haven’t had actual immigration reform since 1959. There’s a reason, it’s political.”
He added, “When it becomes a red issue or blue issue, it means it’s dead. If it was easy to fix, it would’ve got fixed.” Mullin went further, saying, “Is immigration reform possible? No.”
Mullin then added, “Can we work with the system we have? Yes. We have naturalization ceremonies every single day in the United States. We’re real close to 900,000 individuals that have been naturalized over the last 12 months. There’s a legal system to go through.”
So embarrassing!
Sec Mullin: how bout this novel idea — you deport EVERY SINGLE ILLEGAL, and stop placating the Dems and sellout Republicans??? https://t.co/mRx4DZ3ZQC
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) August 1, 2026
Cortes responded via video. As seen below, he said: “We voted for mass deportations, not political posturing and equivocation. You know, the Secretary of DHS, at a moment in history like this, should be an absolute bad [expletive].”
The Sec of DHS right now should be a bad ass!
Instead we get @SecMullinDHS equivocating!
We get this issue correct…or we get RINSED in November elections… pic.twitter.com/Ix0nYnvOgs
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) August 2, 2026
Cortes also criticized Mullin for promising big city mayors that as long as they turn over “the worst of the worst,” they won’t see ICE in their cities. Cortes said he doesn’t like how Mullin is “bragging about a million legal immigrants in this country per year.” (Cortes said allowing immigrants to enter the country legally “is not serving in the interest of American citizens.”)
Cortes warned fellow Republicans, “We either get this topic right, because it is our best issue by far for November…or, Republicans, get ready to get rinsed.”
Cortes’ criticism of Mullin was met with some resistance on X, where some questioned his interpretation of Mullin’s remarks. As one commenter replied: “I watched it twice. He does not argue that the administration should not deport every illegal alien. Instead, he is reciting current immigration law that allows visas for employment, and allows for adjustment of status if you qualify.”
Another replied: “Mullin said comprehensive reform through Congress is dead because both parties sabotage it every time, so stop waiting for a magical bill and enforce the laws already on the books. That’s the full context of the ‘No.’ You clipped three words, ignored the next 30 seconds where he talks about naturalizing 900k people a year through the legal system and giving zero exceptions to anyone who never even tried, and turned it into ‘Mullin is soft on illegals.’ This isn’t analysis. It’s low-effort outrage farming for engagement. Watch the [expletive] 7-minute clip or shut up.”
