In a development that will surprise absolutely no one who has been paying attention for the past decade, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced Wednesday that "Deportations will continue" - a statement delivered via social media with all the dramatic tension of a weather forecast confirming that it will, in fact, be Tuesday.

The declaration came on the heels of the Democratic Party's sweeping victories in the 2026 midterm elections, where they claimed both the House and Senate. Democrats had campaigned against President Trump's immigration crackdown, with some candidates dusting off the classic "abolish ICE" slogan, because nothing says "please vote for me" like a three-word phrase that sends half the electorate into cardiac arrest.

Mullin, apparently not one to let a midterm shellacking go unanswered, challenged those calls and other criticisms of the agency. He also took a moment to clap back at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she warned that ICE officers could try to intimidate voters at the polls, questioning why Clinton was "still relevant" - a question that political pundits have been debating since approximately 2017 and which remains, somehow, unresolved.

"Even in my confirmation hearing, this was brought up, and I made it very clear that ICE agents aren't going to be around polling places unless there's a threat," Mullin told Fox News host Will Cain before polling closed Tuesday. The bar for "threat" remains undefined, but one assumes it's somewhere between "a guy with a clipboard" and "an actual emergency."

Democrats, now armed with congressional power, have vowed to restrain ICE - potentially withholding future funding and establishing themselves as the oversight authority for the agency. This plan will likely encounter the immovable object of Republican lawmakers and the unstoppable force of a presidential veto, with Trump pledging this week to become "Mr. Veto" if Democrats regain control of Congress. One assumes the cape is already being tailored.

Meanwhile, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) introduced a bill last month called the "Reimagining Safety Act" to overhaul U.S. immigration agencies, which includes replacing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with a "community-centered" department. Ramirez, a critic of ICE and a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said last month that the deaths of those detained by ICE and Customs and Border Protection, along with the deaths of those deported by the U.S., were the "reason DHS must be dismantled and something new must take its place." It's the kind of legislative ambition that usually dies quietly in committee, but points for effort.

Ahead of the midterms, a New York Times/Siena poll found that 52 percent of likely voters backed Democrats on handling immigration over Republicans, compared to the 45 percent who backed the GOP - a seven-point gap that suggests the electorate is slightly more nuanced than a cable news chyron. Deportations, meanwhile, will continue. As will the debate about them. As will, presumably, the questions about Hillary Clinton's relevance.