Noem’s replacement draws outrage over ‘racist’ remark that the U.S. should have the ‘right kind of immigrants’
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin was accused on Wednesday of repeating a “racist” comment about immigrants when he said the United States only wanted the “right kind of immigrants” in the country.
Mullin, who recently replaced Kristi Noem, made familiar criticisms of the previous administration’s decision to allow immigrants into the country and said those with criminal records were allowed to reside. He complained about the high cost of deporting immigrants because the United States grants everyone the right to due process or a fair hearing.
“But the thing is we want immigration, we want legal immigration, there are people who want to make the country stronger, we are a nation of immigrants, we understand that,” Mullin said. He told the Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
Ingraham interjected: “The right kind of immigrants.”
“But the right kind of immigrants, that’s right,” Mullin said.
Markwayne Mullin replaces Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security after she was fired (Getty)
Mullin did not specify during the show what he meant by the “right kind” of immigrants, but complained about those who “take advantage of the generosity of the United States.”
When asked about the clarity, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said: Independent He said that when Mullin was talking about the “right kind of immigrants,” he was talking about the “legal ones.”
Although Mullin and other administration officials often claim that they want immigrants to enter the United States legally, many of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have affected legal immigration methods.
A. CATO Institute’s latest analysis found that the president’s crackdown on refugees and the ability to seek asylum, the implementation of travel bans, and regulations on student and H-1B work visas led to a larger decline in legal immigration than illegal immigration.
The administration’s immigration policies have disproportionately affected people of color, with travel bans on nearly a dozen African countries, the end of asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border, immigration agents’ use of racial profiling, and the removal of protected status for people from Haiti, Myanmar, Honduras, Venezuela, and Ethiopia, among other countries.
The administration has halted visas in more than 70 countries, claiming immigrants from those countries over-utilize US welfare (AFP/Getty)
As a result, Mullin’s claim about the “right kind of immigrants” coming to the United States was interpreted as a whistle-blower call to favor white immigrants.
“Why don’t they just say ‘white’?” X user Michael Freeman wrote.
Nick, another X user, replied: “The blatant racism of today…. When they say ‘the right kind of immigrants’ they mean white people. I remember the days when Republicans used the dog whistle. Those days are long gone.”
“This is disgustingly racist.” X user Shawn wrote.
While opponents of hardline immigration policies criticized Mullin’s comments, some MAGA voters disagreed with Mullin about wanting the “right kind of immigrants” in the United States; They said they did not want any form of immigration.
Comments and reports on conservative commentator X post by Eric Daugherty It was packed with people unhappy with the secretary’s assertion about legal immigration.
