Trump's new Homeland Security chief sworn in as Democrats demand ICE changes
US Senator Markwayne Mullin has been sworn in as Donald Trump's new Homeland Security secretary as the President deals with controversy around his administration's immigration policy.
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Trump fired Mullin's predecessor, Kristi Noem, in the wake of the fatal shooting of two US citizens by Immigration & Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis in recent months.
The shootings came amid a surge of federal immigration agents into US cities as part of Trump's hardline stance on migration.
The Senate confirmed Mullin's appointment on Monday night, elevating the senator from Oklahoma to helm an agency that is currently shut down amid a funding dispute.
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Democrats have demanded changes to immigration enforcement procedures after Alex Pretti and Renee Good were shot and killed in Minnesota.
The White House said it would wait for Mullin to take over the post to resume negotiations to end the shutdown.
Noem was ousted from the DHS earlier this month after she was heavily criticised for her conduct into the shootings of Pretti and Good.
Mullin, too, was forced to apologise for his initial reaction to the shooting of male nurse Alex Pretti in which he called him a "deranged individual".
“I shouldn’t have said that,” he acknowledged.
“The investigation is ongoing, and there is, like I said, there’s sometimes going to make mistake and I own it,” he told the panel. “That one, I went out there too fast. I was responding immediately without the facts. That’s my fault.”
Mullin told Congress that he is “not perfect” and will “own” his mistakes, adding, “my goal in six months is that we’re not in the lead story every single day.”