Kristi Noem, the nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, called the southern border a “war zone” and said her chief mission at the helm of the department would be to get a handle on the immigration crisis.
She said President-elect Donald Trump will restore his “Remain in Mexico” policy, which helped solve a previous migrant surge in 2019, and she said criminals will be the chief targets for deportation from within the U.S.
Ms. Noem, currently the governor of South Dakota and a former member of the U.S. House. also said she would try to rebuild trust in the embattled department, whose image she said had been hurt by the assassination attempts against President Trump, the New Jersey drone flap and the migrant surge.
“My mission is to build trust,” she said.
She declared the southern border the “No. 1 threat to our homeland security” and repeatedly called what’s happened over the past four years under outgoing President Biden as an “invasion.” She also said as governor she deployed her National Guard to help Texas because it has become “a war zone down there.”
That kind of language is a marked difference from current Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who for the first few years of his tenure refused to call the migrant surge a “crisis.”
“The southern border is not secure today, but in just three days we will have a new president in this country, President Donald J. Trump, and he will secure the border,” Ms. Noem said.
She said she would shut down the parole program that has allowed unauthorized migrants to skip the border and fly directly into U.S. airports, and would cut off support for communities to house illegal immigrants in hotels.
She also said Homeland Security will “reevaluate” using taxpayer funding to pay for sex-change operations for illegal immigrants in detention.
Democrats prodded Ms. Noem over how she will handle some of Mr. Trump’s demands, including the possibility he might try to withhold disaster relief for jurisdictions run by political opponents.
“I need to know from you: Will you stand up to the president?” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat.
“There will be no political bias as to how disaster relief is delivered,” Mr. Noem assured lawmakers.
But she didn’t shy away from saying that, if she is confirmed, her role will be to carry out Mr. Trump’s priorities — particularly on immigration.
“The reason that I asked for [the Homeland Security post] is because I knew it was the president’s No. 1. I knew it needed to have someone in the position that would do what the president promised the American people, would be strong enough to do it,” Ms. Noem said.
Ms. Noem fended off suggestions by Democrats that she will clash with Tom Homan, whom Mr. Trump has tapped to be his border czar inside the White House.
She said Mr. Trump will be the one in charge of immigration.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.