DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin toured a secondary border wall site near Palominas, Arizona, this past Thursday . The visit highlighted a reported 95 percent decline in southern border apprehensions alongside ongoing construction efforts.
The 95 percent drop in apprehensions and the 500,000 "gotaways"
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently released figures for the fiscal year showing a 95 percent decrease in southern border apprehensions compared to the Biden Administration. While these numbers suggest a significant tightening of the border,DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin cautioned that the statistics do not provide a complete picture of the current security landscape.
According to KGUN 9, Secretary Mullin pointed to the prevalence of "known gotaways"—individuals detected by agents but not apprehended—as a critical counter-metric. In the sector where the Secretary toured, Mullin stated there have been over 500,000 known gotaways, arguing that the apprehension drop is offset by those who successfully evade capture despite being seen by authorities.
$64.5 billion from the Big Beautiful Bill for Cochise County barriers
The construction of the secondary wall in Cochise County is funded by a $64.5 billion allocation designated in the "Big Beautiful Bill." This funding is specifically supporting the installation of a secondary barrier intended to add a layer of redundancy to existing security measures in the region.
During his tour of the Coronado National Memorial site, south of Sierra Vista, Secretary Markwayne Mullin emphasized the value of field-level feedback over centralized planning. He noted that while engineers at headquarters provide the initial designs, the workers on the ground in Arizona have provided insights on how to improve the construction process to make the barriers more effective.
2,268 terrorist arrests as the driver for secondary walls
Secretary Markwayne Mullin justified the necessity of a secondary barrier by citing national security threats, specifically the arrest of 2,268 terrorists since President Trump took office. Mullin clarified that these individuals were not merely suspects or people on a watch list, but confirmed terrorists that authorities were actively seeking.
While touring the site on ATVs with CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, Mullin argued that a secure nation is impossible without a secure border.. He suggested that the secondary wall serves as a critical deterrent against high-risk individuals who might otherwise exploit gaps in the primary line of defense.
Environmental protests and the trade-off in Palominas
The expansion of the wall has not been without opposition, as weeks-long protests have attempted to stall construction to the west of the Palominas site due to environmental concerns. Protesters argue that the barriers disrupt local ecosystems and wildlife corridors.
Responding to these concerns, Secretary Markwayne Mullin compared the potential loss of a "cactus or a bug" to the tragedy of violent crime. as reported by KGUN 9, Mullin stated that every death caused by an illegal alien is preventable, asserting that national security must take precedence over environmental disturbances, despite his own personal affinity for hunting and the outdoors.
The missing data on released detainees
A significant point of contention remains regarding how border crossings are actually tallied. Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed that the official apprehension numbers are further skewed because they do not include individuals who were arrested and subsequently released back into the interior.
Mullin suggested that if these released individuals were counted, the number of people crossing in this sector alone could easily double or triple. However, the source report does not provide the specific data or the methodology used to calculate these potential increases, leaving a gap between the official CBP apprehension percentages and the Secretary's estimates of total arrivals.
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