By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Homeland Security secretary portrayed illegal immigration as an “invasion” and the U.S.-Mexico border as a “war zone” during a U.S. Senate confirmation on Friday where she pledged to back Trump’s hard line on immigration.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who would lead the 260,000-employee department after Trump takes office on Monday, said she would work to reinstate Trump’s “remain in Mexico” program. The program forced non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico while pursuing U.S. asylum cases but was dismantled by President Joe Biden in 2021.
Noem said she would immediately end an app-based Biden program known as CBP One that has allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter legally since 2023. She also suggested she would terminate a Biden “parole” program that allowed certain migrants abroad with U.S. sponsors to enter legally.
“If confirmed and I have the opportunity to be secretary, on Day One, CBP One will be shut down,” Noem told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “There’s several of these programs that need to be eliminated.”
Trump, also a Republican, is expected to take a flurry of executive actions immediately after taking office to deter illegal immigration and increase deportations.
Trump says aggressive moves are needed after high levels of illegal immigration under Biden’s Democratic administration, although the number of migrants caught crossing has fallen dramatically in recent months as Biden toughened his approach.
Noem, if confirmed, would be in charge of the department that oversees border security, deportations and legal immigration paperwork as well as emergency response, cybersecurity and the U.S. Coast Guard and Secret Service.
While she served as governor of a state closer to Canada than Mexico, Noem deployed dozens of South Dakota National Guard troops to assist the Republican-led state of Texas with border security in recent years, including one controversial deployment in 2021 funded by a Republican billionaire.
Noem said on Friday that she sent troops because of the “invasion” at the border.
“It is a war zone down there,” the governor said, saying illegal immigration had led to criminal activity in her state and across the U.S.
Numerous studies have shown immigrants do not commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans.
MASS DEPORTATIONS
U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego said agricultural businesses in his home state of Arizona were concerned that Trump’s plans for mass deportations could lead to worker shortages, echoing broader worries among farmers.
“What is your plan to ensure safe and legal immigration processes for agricultural workers?” Gallego asked.
Noem said the incoming administration would focus on criminal offenders and people with final deportation orders but did not say farm workers would be protected.
If confirmed, she could find herself thrust into a debate among Trump allies about whether legal immigration should be restricted.
Noem’s family ranch, the Racota Valley Ranch Partnership in Hazel, South Dakota, has requested 59 H-2A visas for temporary agricultural workers since 2015, according to previously unreported U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data.
U.S. government records from 2024 list Rock Arnold, Noem’s brother, as the business owner making the request. Noem’s office and Rock Arnold did not respond to requests for comment.
A Noem spokesperson told the Associated Press in 2021 that she no longer had a financial stake in the Racota Valley Ranch Partnership.
Immigrants, both in the United States legally and illegally, make up a large portion of the country’s agricultural workforce. But some conservatives say guest worker visas undercut Americans’ wages and slow down technological adaptation.
During Friday’s hearing, Noem criticized the Biden administration’s approach to homeland security, including efforts by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to combat misinformation and disinformation. She said the agency had “gotten far off mission” and should be focused on protecting critical infrastructure.
“They’re using their resources in ways that was never intended,” she said.
Noem said she would work to counter smuggling related to fentanyl, including examining a trade law that allows lower-value shipments to enter the U.S. with less scrutiny.
Noem faced backlash last year when she wrote in a memoir that she had shot to death an “untrainable” dog that she “hated” on her family farm. Some Trump advisers said they believed Noem’s stock fell in the former president’s eyes at a time when she had been a vice presidential contender.
While most DHS secretaries since the founding of the department in 2002 have had experience with its mission, some moved into the role from other positions, including governorships.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, senior adviser for immigration and border policy with the Bipartisan Policy Center, said outsiders can still perform well as secretaries.
“It just means they have a bigger, steeper, faster learning curve,” she said.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Mary Milliken, Howard Goller and Alistair Bell)
