Kristi Noem refuses to retract statement calling Minnesotans killed by federal agents ‘domestic terrorists’ | Kristi Noem
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. (DHS) Kristi Noem did not retract her comments Tuesday calling two U.S. citizens killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis earlier this year “domestic terrorists” while also claiming agents did not meet arrest quotas.
Appearing before Congress for the first time since the murders, Noem dodged a question from Senate judiciary committee ranking member Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, about whether she would drop false accusations against Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“When situations like this happen, we always offer our condolences to these families, and I offer my own condolences,” Noem said during the oversight hearing.
Durbin noted that leaders of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), who both testified before the House judiciary committee last month, said they did not inform Noem that Pretti was a domestic terrorist.
“I was getting reports from the field, from agents at the scene, and I could tell it was a chaotic scene,” Noem said.
“Is it that hard to say you’re wrong?” Durbin responded.
Noem also told Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, that she believes there are still about 650 federal immigration agents working in Minnesota after Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan announced last month that there would be a significant reduction in immigration enforcement in the state. There were approximately 3,000 agents in Minnesota throughout Operation Metro Surge.
“What I want to know is, when will you reach the original footprint as you promised us?” Klobuchar asked Noem. Before the crackdown, there were about 150 federal immigration officers in the state.
ICE and CBP’s actions during the escalation of immigration enforcement in Minnesota have drawn condemnation from both parties. A funding bill that would keep Noem’s department open remained pending on Capitol Hill when Noem emerged Tuesday.
While Democrats have pushed for stronger guardrails on immigration enforcement, Republicans have voiced many of their demands, such as banning federal agents from wearing masks while on patrol and arresting non-starters.
In his opening statement, Senate judiciary committee chairman Chuck Grassley blamed Democrats for the ongoing DHS shutdown.
Democratic senator Chris Coons grilled Noem about her department’s relationship with Trump’s top adviser, Stephen Miller. Coons noted Miller’s public statements to reporters about the 3,000 daily arrest quota.
“It’s easier to get people here when there’s pressure on you to hit high numbers,” Coons said. [who are] not breaking any laws and contributing to our communities.”
Noem, however, was adamant that “there is no quota” and insisted that DHS conduct “targeted law enforcement.”
Durbin issued a sharp rebuke of DHS under Noem’s leadership. He said the department “lacks any moral compass or respect for the rule of law” and noted that “without hesitation or remorse” federal immigration agents “wreaked havoc on our cities.”
Before Noem gave her opening statement, she was interrupted by a protester in the hearing room who identified herself as a former Fema staffer and said the homeland security secretary should be “ashamed” of her. They called for “abolish ICE” as they were escorted from the room.
