Trump to forge ahead with immigration crackdown driven by top aide Stephen Miller

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump is expected to forge ahead with his aggressive immigration crackdown driven by top aide Stephen Miller and a new homeland secretary nominee who shares Mr Trump’s hardline view, current and former US officials and lawmakers said.

The Republican President fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on

March 5

, after months of controversy over heavy-handed immigration enforcement tactics and lawmaker questions about government contracts and turmoil within her department.

But Mr Miller – the White House deputy chief of staff and the architect of Mr Trump’s immigration agenda – retains control of the issue, three US officials said. And Mr Trump’s pick to become Homeland Secretary, US Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, is viewed as closely aligned with Mr Trump’s approach.

“Stephen is a survivor,” one of the officials said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal dynamics. The official said Ms Noem’s firing was not a referendum on Mr Trump’s restrictive agenda, but rather on the execution of it.

In response to a request for comment, a White House official said Mr Miller helps coordinate a wide range of issues – from immigration to counter-cartel operations – and is “working to ensure the President’s policy agenda is implemented”.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Mr Mullin’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr Trump won back the White House in 2024 with a campaign that heavily focused on stopping illegal immigration and ramping up deportations.

Immigration was one of Mr Trump’s best-polling issues after returning to office – and a key focus for the Republican Party broadly. But amid backlash over his aggressive enforcement in US cities, support for his immigration approach declined in recent months, Reuters/Ipsos polls show.

Republicans currently hold narrow majorities in both chambers of the US Congress but are heading into midterm elections in November that threaten their control on Washington.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on March 5 in an X post related to Ms Noem’s dismissal that Mr Trump’s immigration goals remained unchanged.

“President Trump’s immigration agenda is keeping our border secure and deporting illegal alien criminals from our country, and it will continue without interruption,” she said.

Under Ms Noem’s leadership, DHS sent thousands of federal immigration agents to Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and other Democratic-led cities to seek out immigration offenders, sweeping through residential neighbourhoods and chasing day labourers in Home Depot carparks.

But after federal agents shot and killed two US citizens in Minneapolis – Ms Renee Good and Mr Alex Pretti – the administration said it would move to a less public-facing “targeted” approach to immigration arrests.

Current and former federal immigration officials said there had been no immediate policy shift since Ms Noem’s departure was announced, but several said they expected the administration to continue to avoid high-profile surges into US cities following the fallout in Minneapolis.

Mullin seen as tough on border security

Mr Mullin, 48, became a senator in 2023 after a decade in the US House of Representatives. Like Ms Noem, he is a rancher and owns a cattle ranch in Oklahoma that also serves as a wedding venue, among other businesses.

Even as a freshman, Mr Mullin has stood out from the crowd of 100 senators, at times presiding over the Senate wearing a large, light-coloured cowboy hat.

He had a short-lived career as a mixed martial arts fighter and garnered widespread media attention in 2023 when he rose from his chair during a Senate hearing to challenge Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to “stand your butt up” and fight.

Mr Mullin voted for a Republican-backed funding package in 2025 that devoted a historic US$170 billion (S$217 billion) to immigration enforcement through September 2029 and backs core elements of Mr Trump’s immigration platform.

Republican lawmakers praised Mr Mullin after the news that Mr Trump would nominate him for DHS secretary, a position that requires majority confirmation in the Senate.

“He’s strong on the border and that’s what we need,” Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri told reporters on March 5. “The deportations will continue.”

Ms Noem was sharply criticised by both Democrats and Republicans for swiftly saying Ms Good and Mr Pretti were engaged in “domestic terrorism” after they were killed and before a full investigation.

Mr Mullin similarly portrayed Mr Pretti as a threat despite video evidence that undercut that claim. He said Mr Pretti was “a deranged individual” who had a loaded pistol and intended “to cause max damage”, during an interview with Fox News on Jan 24, the day Mr Pretti was killed.

Democrats on Capitol Hill welcomed Ms Noem’s removal, but said the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement still needed to change. Democrats have blocked funding for DHS since mid-February in a push to force the White House to moderate its tactics.

Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said funding talks are being run out of the White House and that he does not expect Ms Noem’s firing to break the stalemate.

“I think we’re better off without her, but she wasn’t running the department,” Mr Murphy said on March 5. “Stephen Miller runs that department and will continue to run the department, so I don’t really think much will change.” REUTERS