President-elect Donald Trump has picked South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday morning.
The department, which oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will be crucial in carrying out Trump’s central campaign promise to close the southern border and fix illegal immigration.
The department also oversees FEMA, an agency that was recently exposed by The Daily Wire for discriminating against Trump supporters.
The move comes on the heels of Trump’s pick of Tom Homan as “Border Czar.” Homan previously served as acting ICE director during Trump’s first term in office. The immigration official who also served during the Obama years is known for being an immigration hardliner, which aligns with Trump’s vision.
Noem has visited the U.S.-Mexico border on numerous occasions, and repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for creating a “warzone.”
In January, Noem released a joint statement in support of Texas Gov. Greg Abbot (R-TX) taking state action to secure the border, while President Joe Biden and VP Kamala Harris refused to do. Noem was one of 25 GOP governors to sign the statement.
“President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country,” the statement said.
“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border. We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally,” the governors added.
Noem has been a staunch supporter of Trump, but has been the subject of some controversy in recent years. More recently, her book sparked outrage for a story she told about putting down a hunting dog that was “untrainable.”
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“I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons learned,” Noem said via X.
“Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it’s hard and painful. I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor,” she added. “As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy. But often the easy way isn’t the right way.”
I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons…
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) April 28, 2024
Noem also took heat in 2021 for effectively killing a bill that would ban males in female sports, drawing much criticism from conservatives. She instead issued two weaker executive orders: for public schools, she implemented a mandate for proof of either a birth certificate or affidavit to show the athlete is female, and another EO effectively recommended a ban on males in female sports in higher education.
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