A House Appropriations Committee hearing erupted into a shouting match Thursday as Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) traded jabs during an exchange over border security and migrant children.
DeLauro said the Trump administration separated 3,900 children from their families. Mullin shot back that the Biden administration had lost track of roughly 450,000 migrant children and accused Democrats of staying silent.
“Four hundred and fifty thousand kids were lost during the Biden administration, and you didn’t say a word about it,” Mullin said. “Don’t you point your finger at me. Don’t be a hypocrite.”
“I will point my finger at you,” DeLauro fired back.
Mullin then said the Connecticut Democrat ignored the issue for four years. “You should be as upset about the 450,000 kids that were lost. You didn’t say a word about it. For four years, you never said a word.”
As the two talked over one another, DeLauro appealed to the committee chairman to intervene. “Mr. Chairman, could you put him in his place?” she said.
The chairman stepped in, reminding Mullin that members were entitled to their allotted speaking time, offering him additional time for a closing statement instead.
Mullin said he would not stay quiet while lawmakers used the hearing for “sound bites.”
“My issue is that they say this for sound bites, and I’m not going to let them say something,” he said.
DeLauro immediately fired back, asking, “What did you do just recently for sound bites?” She added that she sympathized with the hundreds of thousands of migrant children before calling for order in the hearing.
The confrontation reached its peak when Mullin pointed at DeLauro and declared, “I will not let her sit there and lie and accuse something this ridiculous.”
“And do not accuse me of lying. Do not,” DeLauro responded.
A 2024 DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) report found that approximately 448,000 unaccompanied migrant children were transferred from ICE to HHS between fiscal years 2019 and 2023.
It also found that about 291,000 were not issued Notices to Appear in immigration court and about 32,000 failed to appear for their scheduled hearings. The report concluded ICE could not effectively monitor many children’s status because of gaps in data sharing.
