WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown on Tuesday as she faced intense scrutiny by lawmakers during her first Senate hearing since the Minnesota Immigration and Customs Enforcement shootings in January.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the hard work of the men and women of DHS, our department has delivered historic results and has made our community safer,” Noem said.
Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary hearing comes two weeks after lawmakers failed to reach a budget deal to fund DHS and agree on changes to immigration enforcement, causing a partial government shutdown. Democrats demanded investigations and significant ICE reforms in response to the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.
Pretti and Good were fatally shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis, just three weeks apart in January. Republicans called for the hearing just days after Pretti’s death.
In a heated and nearly uninterrupted 10-minute exchange, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called for Noem’s resignation. Tillis accused Noem of overseeing a “disaster” at the DHS and mishandling immigration enforcement.
“We’re beginning to get the American people to think that deporting people is wrong. It’s the exact opposite. The way you’re going about deporting them is wrong,” he said.
Tillis said the department should admit to making a mistake over its brute use of force in immigration enforcement. Noem did not engage with Tillis’ accusations.
“The fact that you can’t admit to a mistake which looks like under investigation, it’s going to prove that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face,” Tillis said. “That is a failure of leadership, and that is why I called for your resignation.”
Tillis also submitted a letter to the record from the Office of Inspector General, which alleged that the DHS had misled investigators and blocked multiple oversight inquiries under Noem’s leadership.
Tillis said he will block any DHS nominations until Noem responds to his concerns.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.Y., echoed Tillis’ concerns and said Noem should resign.
“Either you are utterly incompetent, or you are violating laws with impunity,” Booker said. “You should step down. If you don’t, you should be removed by this president. And if not, Congress should impeach you.”
During his round of questioning, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the DHS is racially targeting individuals, particularly those who appear to be of Mexican origin.
Blumenthal asked three people seated in the hearing room to stand. Leonardo Venegas, Javier Ramirez and Miramar Martinez were wrongfully detained by immigration officers and were seated just a few rows behind Noem.
Venegas and Ramirez were detained by immigration officers last year in Alabama and California, respectively, despite being U.S. citizens, according to their accounts. Venegas filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in September, demanding an end to unconstitutional workplace raids.
Martinez, a U.S. citizen from Chicago, was shot five times by an immigration agent last October as she was on her way to church. Martinez survived the shooting and was charged with allegedly assaulting federal officers.
However, Noem denied Blumenthal’s allegations that ICE agents go after people of color.
“We do not target people based on their race or ethnicity,” Noem said.
However, several Republican lawmakers expressed support of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he found the shutdown “insane,” as there is a threat of “dangerous criminals” entering the country.
“America is under siege, and the idea we’re not defining DHS is insane, criminally insane.”
During Graham’s questioning, Noem agreed she was “proud” of the administration’s border enforcement efforts amid the ongoing investigation into the fatal shootings in Minnesota.
Since the start of President Trump’s second term, Noem said daily encounters along the southwest border declined by 96 percent, and millions of undocumented individuals have left the country.
In her opening statement, Noem called the Democrat-led shutdown “reckless” and said it’s creating negative effects for its agents as well as risking the lives of domestic citizens.
“It’s unnecessary, and it underlines the American national security and it harms the men and women who work at DHS and their families,” Noem said. “Critical national security missions, including border security, immigration enforcement, aviation security, disaster response, cyber security and the protection of critical infrastructure are all being strained.”
Throughout Noem’s nearly five-hour testimony, three people stood up and protested against her and were escorted out by police. One protester was tackled before being brought outside.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said ICE agents were not following police procedures after the killings of Good and Pretti, and that federal agents need to have stricter identification processes before they arrest someone.
“When I spoke to Alex’s parents, they told me that you are calling him a ‘domestic terrorist,’” she said. “Do you have anything you want to say to Alex Pretti’s parents?”
Noem refused to directly respond or apologize to Good and Pretti’s families.
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