Every piece I’ve written for this column this semester has confronted the reality for immigrants of color: the violence caused by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement — immigration officers detaining and, in some cases, killing U.S. citizens.

Orchestrating this terror was Kristi Noem, the now-former Department of Homeland Security secretary.

Noem’s face has become recognizable for many Latino immigrant communities through her propagandic advertisement campaigns promoting DHS enforcement and recruitment efforts, which have appeared in Spanish-language media outlets such as Univision and on music platforms like Spotify.

Public outrage has intensified for months, with immigration activists and even Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis calling for her resignation. Earlier this month, Noem faced criticism over allegedly lying under oath in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when questioned about detaining U.S. citizens.

Now, she’s facing accountability for her actions.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that Noem would be replaced by Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.

But, Noem’s departure does not signal reform. Her legacy leaves behind a dangerous precedent where cruelty is not just tolerated but normalized institutionally. And nothing will change.

While Noem’s departure may bring a sense of hope,  Mullin, a close political ally of Trump, will now face questions about whether his leadership will continue the pattern of militarized enforcement.

Given Mullin’s previous comments regarding the death of Alex Pretti — a Veterans Affairs Health Care System nurse who was shot during an encounter involving immigration agents in Minneapolis —  we can predict the new face to the agency will not shift the agenda. We see this with Mullin’s post on Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social: “Obstructing federal law enforcement is a felony. Most Americans follow ICE instructions without thinking twice.”

Rhetoric like this triggers violence and strips protesters like Pretti of their humanity. Mullin’s comment insinuates that immigration is about confrontation between the public and officers rather than a complex political issue.

Mullin’s response is a lack of accountability, which mirrors Noem’s response to Pretti’s death. While she acknowledged the death as an “absolute tragedy,” she did not apologize or acknowledge the immigration agents’ violence. Mullin has also defended immigration agents in Minneapolis as “patriots” in their mass deportation tactics.

Immigration must be treated as a humanitarian issue. Immigrants have often fled war, poverty or instability and are treated inhumanely in the United States simply because they were not born here.

When asked by reporters on his nomination, Mullin praised Noem, calling the former DHS secretary a “friend” who did as much as she could in a “very difficult job,” as reported by The New York Times on Thursday. This allegiance to her and the Trump administration is another shift toward great political loyalty within the agency. It’s easy to assume the DHS’ new leadership will enforce the same strict policies and promised practices that Mullin praised in Noem’s tenure.

Despite split opinions from voters on immigration — particularly clear in Trump’s approval rating for immigration policy being split between 44% approval and 53% disapproval, as found by a January Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll — there are currently systems in place to ensure everyone is treated fairly. Noem has discarded systems such as due process, which has cleared the path for Mullin to implement policies that will continue and perhaps heighten fear among immigrant communities, especially Latino immigrant communities.

Immigration is indeed complex, and with an estimated over 14 million undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S. in 2023 according to Pew Research Center, the shift in leadership will impact a great many people. Given Mullin’s comments on immigration, he is not the solution the American people need after Noem’s tenure.

Supporters of strict immigration enforcement often excuse the agency’s behavior by claiming “law and order,” saying officers are just doing their job to regulate immigration. But if the law is used to justify injustice, what legitimacy does it hold? 

Noem’s exit from the DHS does not mean immigrants will begin to be treated as people. A shift in authority does not mean a shift in ideology; with the DHS’ funding technically shut down Saturday by congressional Democrats protesting Noem’s militant enforcement, Mullin’s arrival may only serve as a logistical shove past this roadblock by Republicans.

Until the system itself recognizes immigrants as people rather than problems and tools for the economy, justice will see its way.

Heydy Vasquez is a senior majoring in legal studies writing about immigration policy and its effects on students in her column “Undocutales,” which runs every other Friday. She is also an Opinion editor at the Daily Trojan.