Mullin Opens Door to Permanent Status for DACA Recipients, but Insists ‘We’re Never Going to Allow Amnesty’

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Monday that Congress could look at giving DACA recipients permanent legal status, while insisting the Trump administration will never accept amnesty, Fox News reported.

Mullin told reporters at a counter-drone conference in Maryland that “a lot of Democrats” have contacted him about working together on immigration legislation in the new Congress, where Democrats will control both chambers.

“I’ve let the president know that those calls are coming in, and the president has said, ‘Let’s start working with them and then let’s meet at some point,’” Mullin said.

He then raised the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields some immigrants brought to the country illegally as children from deportation and gives them work permits.

“If we want to have an immigration reform to where we can look at DACA and figure out a way that these individuals can become maybe legal permanent citizens or something like this, that’ll be up to Congress,” Mullin said.

He said he and Trump have not discussed changing enforcement. “But has there been a conversation about changing the policy? No, we haven’t had that conversation,” Mullin said. “We’re never going to allow amnesty to happen.”

The remarks mark a shift in tone. In a March post on X, DHS said DACA “does not confer any form of legal status in this country” and warned recipients could be arrested and deported, Fox News reported.

Mullin offered no timetable, eligibility rules or details on whether a deal could lead to green cards or citizenship, the Latin Times reported.

His comments followed Trump’s Sunday interview with “60 Minutes,” in which the president said his deportation policy might be “too tough” and floated a deal for some longtime immigrant workers, The National Desk reported.

White House Says Trump Never Said ‘Amnesty’

The White House rejects the idea that Trump backs amnesty. “The President never said the word amnesty. There has never been a President stronger on immigration enforcement than President Trump,” a White House official told the Daily Caller.

Some on the right weren’t persuaded. Republican strategist Ryan Girdusky said Trump’s description amounted to amnesty, comparing it to a child who “puts his finger an inch to your face and says I’m not touching you,” the Daily Caller reported.

Vice President JD Vance warned after the election that establishment Republicans would push amnesty in the coming months and that anyone advocating it was “lying to you,” the outlet reported.

Some 436,350 people held active DACA protections as of June 30, down from 533,280 at the end of 2024, the Latin Times reported, citing federal figures compiled by the National Immigration Forum.

A bipartisan Dream Act from Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is already pending. A narrower Durbin amendment to speed DACA renewals failed a procedural Senate vote 48-51 in June, the outlet reported.

Mullin’s opening comes days after Trump named Stephen Miller, the architect of the administration’s hardline immigration agenda, as his new White House chief of staff, Fox News reported.

Content created by Conservative Daily News and some content syndicated through CDN is available for re-publication without charge under the Creative Commons license. Visit our syndication page for details and requirements.