Kristi Noem confirmed by US Senate as Trump’s homeland security secretary
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Ms Kristi Noem testifying during her Senate confirmation hearing on Jan 17.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - Kristi Noem was confirmed by the US Senate as President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security secretary on Jan 25, putting into position a key member of the Republican’s Cabinet as he launches a wide-ranging immigration crackdown.
Ms Noem, who was governor of South Dakota, shares Mr Trump’s hardline immigration views and called illegal immigration an “invasion” during a confirmation hearing
She was confirmed by a vote of 59 to 34 in the Republican-led Senate.
Mr Trump recaptured the White House promising to deport record numbers of immigrants in the US illegally, criticising Democratic former president Joe Biden for high levels of illegal immigration during his presidency.
Mr Trump issued an array of executive orders
Ms Noem will take over the 260,000-employee US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border security, deportations and legal immigration paperwork, as well as emergency response, cybersecurity and the US Coast Guard and Secret Service.
While she served as governor of a state closer to Canada than Mexico, Ms 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.
“It is a war zone down there,” Ms Noem said of the border during her Jan 17 confirmation hearing.
When asked during the hearing how the Trump administration would handle workers without legal status in the agricultural sector, Ms Noem said the administration would focus on criminal offenders and people with final deportation orders but did not say farm workers would be protected.
Ms Noem’s family ranch has hired dozens of temporary farm workers since 2015, US government records show, listing her brother as the owner.
Some conservative groups say the use of temporary agricultural workers with guest visas undercuts wages and slows down technological adaptation. REUTERS
