HomePoliticsKristi Noem confirmed by the US Senate as Trump's Homeland Secretary

Kristi Noem confirmed by the US Senate as Trump’s Homeland Secretary

By Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON – Kristi NOEM was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as President Donald Trump’s secretary of homeland security on Saturday, putting a key member of the Republican’s Cabinet in position as he launches a broad immigration crackdown.

NEEM, who served as governor of South Dakota, shares Trump’s Hardline Immigration views and called illegal immigration an “invasion” during a confirmation hearing earlier this month.

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She was confirmed by a 59-34 vote in the Republican-led Senate.

Trump retook the White House, vowing to reduce the number of immigrants in the U.S. illegally deported and criticized Democratic former President Joe Biden for high levels of illegal immigration during his presidency.

Trump issued a range of executive orders after taking office on January 20 aimed at tightening border security and strengthening his deportation station, and has rolled out a range of restrictive policies.

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NOEM will take over the 260,000-employee U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border security, deportations and legal immigration paperwork, as well as emergency response, cybersecurity and the U.S. Coast Guard and Secret Service.

While serving as governor of a state closer to Canada than Mexico, NOEM has deployed dozens of South Dakota National Guard troops to help the Republican-led state of Texas with border security in recent years, including one controversial deployment in 2021 funded by a Republican billionaire.

“It’s a war zone down there,” Noem said of the border during her Jan. 17 confirmation hearing.

When asked at the hearing how the Trump administration would handle workers without legal status in the agricultural sector, NOEM said the administration would focus on criminal offenders and people with final deportation orders, but did not say farmworkers would be protected.

NOEM’s Family Ranch has hired dozens of temporary farm workers since 2015, U.S. government records show, which list her brother as the owner. Some conservative groups say the use of temporary agricultural workers on guest visas undermines wages and slows technological adaptation.

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(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; additional reporting by Ismail Shakil and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Daniel Wallis)

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