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DHS Vows Deportations Will Continue Despite Midterm Results

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue carrying out deportations despite major Democratic gains in the midterm elections, with multi-year funding already approved by the current Republican-controlled Congress.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Wednesday that the election results will not alter the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.

“Deportations will continue,” Mullin said.

He followed up with a post on X emphasizing that ICE operations will continue throughout the year, including on holidays and Election Day.

“365 days per year, the hardworking men and women of ICE law enforcement are targeting and arresting criminal illegal aliens to make America safe again—this includes on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Election Day.”

Mullin said ICE had arrested additional criminal illegal aliens the previous day.

“Just yesterday, ICE arrested more heinous illegal alien criminals with convictions including attempted murder, aggravated assault with a weapon, and child molestation,” he continued. “The Trump Administration will never apologize for putting the safety of the American people first by arresting and removing these criminal illegal aliens.”

The administration’s ability to continue those operations is supported by legislation passed earlier this year.

In June 2026, Congress approved the “Secure America Act,” a reconciliation package providing multi-year funding for ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection through September 30, 2029.

The legislation provides approximately $70 billion, with most of that money directed toward enforcement operations.

That funding is separate from additional ICE money included in Fiscal Year 2027 Department of Homeland Security legislation advanced by the House Appropriations Committee.

The existing funding structure means the Democratic gains in the midterm elections will not immediately allow the incoming congressional majority to cut off ICE operations.

President Donald Trump made mass deportations a central part of his 2024 campaign, arguing that the federal government needed to reverse the immigration policies pursued during the Biden administration.

The issue drew support from voters in both parties during the campaign.

A June 2024 CBS poll cited in reporting on the issue found that 6 in 10 registered voters supported deporting all foreign nationals “living in the US illegally.”

More recently, an NBC News poll conducted shortly before Tuesday’s election found that voters continued to favor Republicans when asked which party was “better able to handle immigration.”

Exit polling also indicated that Republican voters viewed immigration enforcement as a successful policy, while Democratic voters did not identify the issue as a major factor in their voting decisions.

That distinction has become important in the post-election debate over what Republicans should conclude from their losses.

Some analysts have argued that affordability, rather than immigration enforcement, played the larger role in the outcome.

Supporters of continued deportations therefore argue that changing course on immigration would misread the election results.

They also point to the administration’s argument that large-scale migration has affected the cost of living, particularly housing.

DHS has previously said years of unchecked mass migration placed additional pressure on housing costs and other parts of the economy.

For the Trump administration, the immediate policy direction appears unchanged.

ICE has multi-year funding already authorized, DHS leadership is publicly reaffirming the deportation agenda, and the existing legislation extends enforcement resources well beyond the current Congress.

That means the incoming Democratic majority will face limits on how quickly it can alter immigration enforcement through the annual appropriations process.

Mullin’s statements made clear that the administration does not view the midterm results as a mandate to pull back.

Instead, ICE operations will continue under the funding framework Congress has already approved, with deportations and criminal alien arrests remaining a central part of the administration’s immigration policy through at least 2029.