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DHS chief fires back at Jayapal over claim majority of immigration arrests pose 'no threat'

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Moriarty, N. (2026, September 20). DHS chief fires back at Jayapal over claim majority of immigration arrests pose 'no threat'. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/dhs-chief-fires-back-jayapal-over-claim-majority-immigration-arrests-pose-no-threat

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Fox News · collected 2026-09-20 · by Nora Moriarty

Quick Summary

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin disputed Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s assertion that most immigrants arrested by DHS pose no threat to public safety during an appearance on "Saturday in America." Mullin argued that DHS focuses on arresting individuals who threaten national security and cited cases where illegal immigration led to crimes against U.S. citizens, emphasizing the need for stricter enforcement of legal entry requirements. ICE reported nearly 51,000 arrests of illegal immigrants in August, the highest monthly total recorded, while also noting over 2,000 known or suspected terrorists have been deported since Trump’s presidency began.
Written by AI on 2026-09-21, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Markwayne Mullin, the Homeland Security Secretary, responded to Rep. Pramila Jayapal's claim that the majority of people arrested by DHS pose no threat to public safety. On "Saturday in America," Mullin countered, stating DHS and ICE focus on high-risk individuals to ensure community safety. He emphasized the importance of knowing everyone who enters the country legally and stressed that crimes committed by illegal immigrants are preventable if they were not present in the U.S. Jayapal, a critic of ICE and ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, argues that under the Trump administration, immigration enforcement targeted many without criminal convictions.

Written for “DHS Immigration Arrests Debate” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 DHS Immigration Arrests Debate
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 11% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different perspectives on immigration enforcement but describe separate incidents and different officials' statements.”
Fox News
Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different events: one is a response to Rep. Jayapal's claim by DHS Secretary Mullin, while the other involves Rep. Omar introducing new legislation targeting ICE.”
Fox News
Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different interactions between the DHS chief and Democrats over distinct issues: one about immigration arrests posing no threat, the other about a legislative proposal to dismantle parts of DHS.”
Fox News
Hedges 0 of 19 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of immigration policy under Trump's administration and do not describe the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6225 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Nora Moriarty
14 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Also by Nora Moriarty
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 14 articles by Nora Moriarty →

Topics

DHS Homeland Security ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement Wash.

Subjects

DHS ORG · 9× ICE ORG · 5× Jayapal PERSON · 4× Mullin PERSON · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× Homeland Security ORG · 1× Immigration and Customs Enforcement ORG · 1× Markwayne Mullin PERSON · 1× Pramila Jayapal PERSON · 1× Wash. GPE · 1×

Narrative

"That’s because when DHS expends all of its energy to go after parents, longtime friends, neighbors, when [Homeland Security Investigations] agents who are supposed to investigate serious crime and human trafficking are instead being moved to street sweeps and riding along with local police for random traffic stops, we are less safe, not more safe," she added.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-21

Claims (19 extracted, 2 hedged)

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pushed back on Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s, D-Wash., claim that the "majority of people" arrested by DHS pose "absolutely no threat to public safety." uncertain
majority → push → safety
Mullin rejected Jayapal’s characterization on "Saturday in America," saying DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) remain committed to targeting high-risk individuals to keep American communities safe and arguing that crimes committed by illegal immigrants have led to tragedy. asserted
crimes → reject → tragedy
"If we're going to have national security in this country, we [need to] know everybody that's entered this country. asserted
that → go → country
And so, I'm not going to release you back into the public once we know that you entered this country legally," Mullin said. asserted
Mullin → go → country
"It's time for you to go home. asserted
you → go → ?
"All the angel families that lost their loved ones at the hands of an illegal is 100% preventable, because that illegal shouldn't be in our country to begin with," the DHS boss added. asserted
boss → lose → country
Jayapal, the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Integrity, Security, and Enforcement and a vocal ICE critic, argued that immigration enforcement under the Trump administration has targeted immigrants without criminal convictions. asserted
enforcement → argue → convictions
"For the first time this summer, the majority of people that DHS arrested were people who pose absolutely no threat to public safety, and the number of people with criminal convictions who are arrested by ICE actually decreased — decreased, not increased," Jayapal said during a hearing last week. asserted
Jayapal → arrest → hearing
"That’s because when DHS expends all of its energy to go after parents, longtime friends, neighbors, when [Homeland Security Investigations] agents who are supposed to investigate serious crime and human trafficking are instead being moved to street sweeps and riding along with local police for random traffic stops, we are less safe, not more safe," she added. asserted
she → ’ → stops
ICE arrested nearly 51,000 illegal immigrants nationwide in August, marking the highest monthly total on record, according to DHS. uncertain
ICE → arrest → DHS
The department also says ICE has deported more than 2,000 known or suspected terrorists since Trump took office. asserted
Trump → say → office
"When you have a car accident, and you came… into this country legally, and the Democrats want to say, you're not a criminal and you kill somebody. asserted
you → come → somebody
Yes, you were a criminal and now… you ruined somebody else's life, and now you're a murderer at the same time," the DHS chief said. asserted
chief → ruin → time
They want to say this every day," he added. asserted
he → want → this
DHS regularly publicizes arrests and deportations involving illegal immigrants convicted of crimes including murder, child pornography, sexual assault and drug trafficking. asserted
DHS → publicize → murder
"When you decide you're going to break our immigration policies, and you're going to cut the line, you're going to step across our southern border, you're going to step across our northern border. asserted
you → decide → border
We’re still gonna arrest you," the DHS chief said. asserted
chief → go → you
Fox News Digital reached out to Jayapal’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response. asserted
Digital → reach → response
Fox News' Sophia Compton contributed to this report. asserted
Compton → contribute → report
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