With immigration at the forefront of the Trump administration, the Secretary of Homeland Security was leading the way for ICE and the deportation plans within the United States. Kristi Noem, former Governor of South Dakota from 2019-2025, was sworn into the position on January 25, 2025. Her plans for the department focused on sealing the border, enhancing the number of deportations, and increasing ICE and border patrol staffing. However, on March 5, 2026, Noem was fired from her position by President Donald Trump, the first cabinet member to be replaced since his re-election.
Kristi Noem’s controversy has been all over the media since the start of her time as DHS secretary. It has accelerated since the initial announcement of her replacement, and a closer look is being taken at how she handled the position and the overall department. Her time in the position was heavily spent leading the way for two of Trump’s major policy changes, mass deportation and securing the U.S-Mexico border. Though she took steps to implement these changes, both political parties have begun to criticize her work and the approaches she took to carry out immigration and border policies. She took action to a level that it should never have seen–violence.
The Trump administration heavily campaigned about immigration, ensuring that they would carry out the highest number of deportations that this country had seen before. ICE agents were sent to cities across America, instilling fear, anxiety, and violence within communities. Noem was often seen at arrests with ICE officers and was in the media supporting the actions agents were taking. While many Americans have disagreed with the administration’s policies prior to Trump’s re-election, Noem’s leadership in Minneapolis was one of the points that turned even those who supported the deportations. Noem led an extremely aggressive approach in Minneapolis, allowing ICE agents to be sent to the city in high numbers. She watched as the agents were ripping individuals from their cars and dragging families out of there home. Some of these agents were not even properly trained prior to being sent to Minneapolis, which was attempted to be covered up by the department.
Following the two murders of American citizens in Minneapolis, Noem was heavily criticized for the language she used and the little action she did regarding the deaths. In the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, she labelled both individuals as “domestic terrorists.” She openly supported what ICE had done, saying that they were doing their jobs, and launched no formal investigations into the agents. Both political parties have accused her of attempting to run a smear campaign on these two individuals who lost their lives due to excessive force used by official ICE agents.
Not only is Noem being criticized for her handling of immigration, but it is also said that she mishandled FEMA- the Federal Emergency Management Agency–in which she was also in charge. Her management of the agency resulted in slower emergency disaster fund relief and state reimbursements. Noem would insist that she approved every contract and grant proposed over $100,000, meaning that funds would take much longer than necessary to reach their destinations. In cases such as the floods in Texas in 2025, individuals waited for months before receiving any form of disaster relief.
The major controversy that is said to be the “tipping point” of the Trump administration and the public’s perspective of Noem was her border security advertisement campaign. Costing tax-payers $220 million, the campaign consisted of her riding a horse to promote the policy changes on securing the border. During the intense questioning she went through in the days before her firing, she claimed that Trump approved and supported the campaign. However, when asked about the ad, Trump denied that he ever knew about it or saw the promotion.
Noem has been granted a newly created position, the Special Envoy for the Shield of Americas. The Shield of Americas is a part of Trump’s US national security initiative aimed at dismantling cartels, fighting drug trafficking, and limiting Chinese influence in Latin American countries. While Noem will be demoted, Trump has already announced his personal nomination to replace her, Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin. It has been announced that the transition of power will take place at the end of March, but the Senate will have to approve Mullin officially first.
Though Noem is out of the picture, immigration, deportation, and the management of FEMA will still be led by the Trump administration. We will see the same policies being enacted, but with someone new leading the action.
