Fact check: Kristi Noem repeats Trump’s falsehood during confirmation hearing

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, met with senators on Friday as Trump’s Cabinet nominees faced grilling this week.

Noem, who supported Trump’s 2017 Muslim travel ban and in 2021 said she would provide razor wire to the southern border, said at the hearing that she would help reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy and eliminate the CBP One app, which allows migrants to plan. agreements with border officials.

During the hearing, as she explained her concerns about security threats from immigration, Noem shared a false claim about migrant criminals that the president-elect has repeatedly made.

The claim

At Kristi Noem’s Senate confirmation hearing, held on Friday, January 17, 2025, Noem claimed that more than 13,000 murderers and nearly 16,000 sex offenders who had crossed the US border were “on the loose” in the country.

“We’ve had over 13,000 murderers on the loose in this country that have come across that border; we’ve had almost 16,000 rapists and sexual assaulters on the loose in this country right now,” Noem said.

Facts

This claim was repeated throughout Trump’s presidential campaign and is false.

That’s based on figures sent to Texas Republican Representative Tony Gonzales last year from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) listing “non-detained” non-citizens on their schedule, including 13,099 non-citizens with murder convictions and 15,811 with convictions for “sexual assault”. .

The interpretation that these people were “loose” may have come from the term “unrestrained”. Repost the letter on Xpreviously Twitter, in September 2024, Gonzales wrote: “Americans deserve to be SAFE in our own communities.”

But being non-detained does not mean these people were roaming the country, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security in response to the letter.

“The data in this letter is being misinterpreted,” the Department of Homeland Security said

“The data goes back decades; it includes people who entered the country over the last 40 years or more, with the vast majority of custody decisions being made long before this administration. It also includes many who are under the jurisdiction of or currently incarcerated by federal, state, or local law enforcement partners.”

Newsweek reached out to a media representative for Noem via email for comment.

The number of migrants with criminal histories detained by ICE is also limited by its available bed space. As reported by NewsweekAs of September 2024, ICE had 37,684 immigrants in custody at its locations across the United States, a small percentage of the 7.6 million migrants on ICE’s docket.

In the letter sent to Gonzales, ICE Deputy Director Patrick J. Lechleitner said ICE’s detention capacity was 41,500.

As reported by Washington Post in October 2024, many criminals on the list convicted of serious crimes are sent to other facilities to serve their terms. Others may have already served their term.

The decision

False.

Noem repeated a lie Trump shared during the 2024 presidential campaign. There are no more than 13,000 murderers or nearly 16,000 sex offenders “on the loose” in the United States. Her statement is based on a misinterpreted letter sent by ICE in late 2024.

ICE listed non-detained non-citizens with criminal convictions on its docket. While this included people with criminal convictions, it meant they were not detained by ICE, which has limited detention facilities. According to a statement sent by the Department of Homeland Security, the data spanned decades and included convicts serving their sentences in prison or other law enforcement facilities.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team