Kristi Noem faces questions about immigration as Trump’s homeland security picks

Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, revealed Friday that if confirmed, she would end a program that allows migrants to schedule appointments at a port of entry and will seek the return of a policy that forces migrants to remain in Mexico throughout their US cases.

Mrs. Noem faced questioning for nearly three hours Friday in her efforts to run Homeland Security, the agency most critical of Mr. Trump’s promise to carry out mass deportations and seal the country’s southern border. She reiterated Mr Trump’s commitment to crack down on immigration and referred to crossings at the southern border in recent years as an “invasion”.

While Ms. Noem, South Dakota’s governor since 2019, has largely avoided the scrutiny surrounding some of Mr. Trump’s other nominee, the agency she seeks to oversee runs the nation’s immigration system, including law enforcement at the southern border. The department also includes other critical agencies such as the Secret Service, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

She faced largely cordial questions from lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee at a time of shifting perceptions on immigration. Mr. Trump’s promises to aggressively police the border and carry out mass deportations helped him win in November, and some Democrats have signaled support for increased enforcement.

Mrs. Noem, 53, favors the immigration restrictions that Mr. Trump campaigned for. She regularly criticized the policies of the Biden administration and, as governor, even sent the state’s National Guard to the southern border.

“As you know, I have taken a stand against this invasion,” she said in a speech last week. “We have deployed our South Dakota National Guard to our southern border eight times. That includes five state deployments to support Texas’ work to stem the flow of illegal aliens.”

Mr. Trump has said Ms. Noem is “very strong on border security,” but history suggests it may be challenging to keep him satisfied: During his first term, Mr. Trump six heads of department.

The president-elect has also said Ms. Noem will work closely with Tom Homan, whom he has touted as the White House’s “border czar” and given a broad portfolio of responsibilities.

The National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents Border Patrol agents, has come out in support of Ms. Noem’s nomination.

“We are confident that Governor Noem, as secretary, will continue to ensure that Border Patrol agents have the resources and manpower that we need to secure our border,” the union wrote in a letter to senators late last year. “We urge you to quickly begin considering this critical nomination and confirm Governor Noem as Secretary once President Trump is sworn in.”

To conceivably carry out Mr. Trump’s promised largest deportation effort in American history, the department will need many things, including more resources, expanded cooperation across the country from local jails and increased deportations to countries that generally restrict the return of their citizens .

Prior to being elected Governor, Ms. Noem served as a Congresswoman from 2011 to 2019.