WASHINGTON When 37 Democrats cast their votes to confirm Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in January, they did so in spite of heavy opposition to the policies he would be tasked to carry out: more deportations, a southern border wall and a travel ban targeting Muslims.

Their hope was that the former Marine general would be a moderating influence on President Donald Trump and a better option than other names floated for the post. Kelly wasnt known for being a virulent crusader against unauthorized immigration, and he had experience with Central and South America as former head of the U.S. Southern Command. He said in his confirmation hearing that he opposed a registry based on ethnicity or religion, which Trump once floated for Muslims.

Four months later, some of the Senate Democrats who voted for Kelly are exasperated, disappointed and, in some cases, even wondering if they made a mistake. Arrests of non-criminal undocumented immigrants are up significantly, plans for a border wall are underway, and Kelly has joined Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions in framing immigration almost exclusively in terms of crime. He defended the now-blocked ban on refugees and most travelers from several Muslim-majority nations and joked with Trump about using a saber on the press.

I think the secretary has gone above and beyond even what the presidents dictates are and Im disappointed in the way hes acted, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who supported Kellys confirmation, told HuffPost.

The senator said he wouldnt vote for Kelly if he had the chance now.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) voted for Kelly as well, but went on to publicly spar with him over the deportation of a Honduran mother and child who had been detained in Pennsylvania. Casey wouldnt go so far as to say he regretted his vote, remarking instead that he would try to work with Secretary Kelly and encourage him and the Administration to move in a better direction.

But the senator acknowledged that hes frustrated by the administrations decisions to deport children and families. His hope that Secretary Kelly would be more evenhanded on enforcement ... hasnt been borne out.

The administrations approach is not only wrong, but it also doesnt make our nation safer, said Casey via email. When you talk to Secretary Kelly, he says hes just following order[s] but he was confirmed to lead, not just to go along with some wrongheaded immigration approach that was cooked up during the campaign.

Kelly, more than most figures in Trumps orbit, illustrates the stain that the administrations policies can leave on an individuals public standing. The secretary has been at the forefront of both the legally contentious travel ban and the highly controversial crackdown on undocumented immigrants. His willingness to defend both has given him a reputation as the kind, respected face of draconian initiatives.

Kelly has chafed at such criticisms. He has argued that if agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection encounter people who are removable from the U.S., they must work to remove them. His officials have said that even people without criminal records and with longstanding ties to the U.S. can fit that category under the law and they wont be exempt from removal, although they were often passed over under President Barack Obama .

This focus on what the law broadly directs has come up repeatedly, including when Kelly responded to Caseys call to stop the deportation of the Honduran mother and child.

I say it over and over again: If the laws are not good laws, then change them, Kelly declared during a speech in early May . Dont call me, or Twitter or tweet, or go to the press with outrageous stories about how we do business or why were deporting somebody.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Joanne Talbot made the same point in a statement to HuffPost: Secretary Kelly has said that if lawmakers do not like the laws theyve passed and we are charged to enforce, then they should work to adopt legislation instead of asking DHS to ignore existing law and court orders. The Secretary like all DHS law enforcement officers has taken an oath to follow the Constitution.

Kelly firmly believes that the policies adopted by the President to secure our borders and combat terrorism and transnational criminal organization are Constitutional, Talbot said.