Native News
A Cherokee Citizen May Soon Run America’s Immigration System
OPINION
In corporate America, when someone is fired, they are often met by security and escorted out of the building without their personal photographs and other belongings.
In the television show The Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump delivered the moment much more bluntly, announcing to contestants with theatrical showmanship: “You’re fired!”
On Thursday, in real life as president of the United States, Trump handled the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem very differently. Instead of a blunt dismissal, he used a social media post to reassign the embattled secretary to a newly created diplomatic role tied to a regional anti-cartel coalition Trump launched this month.
In the same post, Trump said U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and member of the Senate Committe on Indian Affairs, would replace Noem. If confirmed, Mullin would become only the second Native American to serve as a presidential Cabinet secretary, following former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland of Laguna Pueblo, who served from 2021 to 2025.
Mullin’s nomination carries a historical irony. A Native American — a member of the country’s original peoples — could soon oversee enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, including the policies that determine who can enter and remain in a nation built on lands governed for millennia by Indigenous nations.
Since its creation after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Department of Homeland Security has been tasked with protecting the country from terrorism while also managing immigration enforcement. The DHS secretary holds primary federal responsibility for enforcing immigration laws, securing the nation’s borders, and administering legal immigration benefits.
As with many contemporary issues facing this country, Native Americans have differing opinions on what should be done about immigration. Indian Country is not a monolith. Among Native people, some wear T-shirts with the message: “No one is illegal on stolen land.” They object to the notion that after 500 years of seemingly unchecked immigration that allowed white Europeans into the country, it is now time to close the borders to people of color.
On the other end of the spectrum, other Native Americans subscribe to the hardline view that no one should be in the country unless they entered through established immigration policies. Mullin subscribes to this view.
The consensus among policy experts and historians is that Congress has not enacted comprehensive immigration reform in four decades. The last major legislative overhaul was the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 under President Ronald Reagan, according to the Brookings Institution.
During 2024, Congress worked on a bipartisan plan to reform immigration. Trump called Republican lawmakers to stop the legislation. He wanted to make it an issue during the presidential campaign.
The result was that Trump won the election and then immediately instituted hardline measures to deport undocumented people living in the United States. Those policies have touched Indian Country because federal immigration officers sometimes mistake Native Americans for being undocumented because of the color of their skin.
As of February 2026, polls indicate a significant majority — 65% by one survey — of Americans believe U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tactics have “gone too far.”
Frankly, Mullin will inherit a system that can be described as a train wreck.
After being tapped by the president, Mullin said in a statement on X that he looks forward to “carrying out President Trump’s mission” and supporting the president’s goal to “safeguard the American people and defend the homeland.”
New Mexico gubernatorial candidate Deb Haaland, who served with Mullin in Congress, said she does not see him fixing what is wrong with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Chaos and violence are features of this administration — no matter who is running the agency, I am not confident that ICE or the administration’s cruelty will change,” she said.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mullin needs to focus first on restoring stability inside the department. That means appointing experienced leadership across DHS components, rebuilding trust with the career workforce, and establishing clear and consistent policy guidance that does not change with every political shift.
A secretary who prioritizes management discipline — rather than constant political messaging — could help improve morale and operational efficiency. Before entering politics, Mullin transformed his family’s plumbing company, expanding it from a small, struggling operation into a large home-services firm with hundreds of employees. That kind of management experience could be valuable at a sprawling agency like DHS.
Most importantly, Mullin should use his legislative experience to work with Congress to improve existing immigration laws and ensure they are properly implemented without the political theater that Noem relished.
Thayék gde nwéndëmen — We are all related.