Mullin calls for FEMA overhaul at national governors meeting in OKC

U.S. Homeland Security Sec. Markwayne Mullin delivered critical comments in Oklahoma City regarding states' reliance on federal disaster aid and stressed a need for aggressive immigration enforcement. 

The former Oklahoma congressman and senator said he plans to present President Donald Trump with sweeping FEMA reforms that would shift disaster preparedness back to states while reserving federal resources for the most catastrophic events. 

Mullin criticized complex regulations that can force local workers to handle storm debris three times before hauling it away, tripling the cost. To eliminate the inefficiency, he proposed proactive state grants to mitigate the impact of fires and storms, instead of reactive federal payouts. 

"FEMA will be there on the very worst of the worst, not on every storm," Mullin said, adding that some states have become so dependent on federal aid that they call before disasters actually hit.

Mullin's comments came Saturday, Aug. 1, during the final day of the National Governors Association Summer Meeting at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, where he responded to questions from outgoing NGA Chair Gov. Kevin Stitt. 

Mullin also spoke about immigration enforcement, characterizing Oklahoma as a model of state-federal cooperation and speaking critically about sanctuary cities. Trump recently tapped former Lance Schroyer, a former Oklahoma state trooper, to lead the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency under Mullin's Department of Homeland Security.

Mullin said 76 out of 77 counties in Oklahoma participate in the 287(g) program that deputizes local law enforcement to also enforce immigration law. The state has accounted for more arrests through that program than 48 other states, despite having a population of a little more than 4 million, which ranks in the middle.

"The only state that arrests more people than us is the state of Florida, and you're not seeing the news on this, we're not arresting people that are living in Oklahoma, we're arresting people that are transporting illegal material, contraband and human trafficking that's going across our state," Mullin said. "But because we have such great cooperation, we're able to do that and get paid for it."

The state recently received $300,000 in federal reimbursements for that program, Mullin said.

His remarks about arresting people who aren't living in Oklahoma appear to reference Stitt's Operation Guardian, where state law enforcement agencies have teamed up with ICE agents to conduct sweeping traffic stops near state lines. Authorities have said they have arrested commercial truck drivers living in the U.S. without legal permission during those operations.

To begin the final day of the National Governors Association meeting, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the incoming chair of the organization, joined Stitt, the outgoing chair, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox for a tour of the National Memorial & Museum, which honors those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever by the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. 

Retired Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court Steven Taylor, who presided as the judge in the trial of the co-conspirator of the bombing, and Kari Watkins, president and CEO of the memorial and museum, guided the tour. 

Cox said the tour of the museum impacted him more deeply than he could have anticipated.

"I've long admired the Oklahoma Standard, and I think what's interesting about it is that it used to be the United States standard," Cox said. "It's who we are, it's who we've been since our founding. That was a virtue that the founders believed in, and that virtue was all of these things about serving, giving back, believing in a cause bigger than ourselves, in our country, and sacrificing for those ideals. We don't talk about virtue much anymore."

Moore said starting his day at the memorial was "incredibly centering."

"Having a chance to explore what I think is one of the most remarkable memorials and museums I've ever seen allows you to really reflect on not just the moment and the horror of what happened that morning, but also on the response," Moore said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Mullin calls for FEMA overhaul at national governors meeting in OKC