How Kristi Noem transformed immigration enforcement
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
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Summary
After both Renée Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by Department of Homeland Security officers in Minneapolis this month, the story from the agency’s secretary, Kristi L. Noem, was that these individuals’ intentions represented acts of domestic terrorism.
Confirmed as DHS secretary a year ago under President Trump, Noem has been one of the most visible defenders of Trump’s immigration agenda, executing a sprawling deportation campaign and backing the increasingly aggressive tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and Customs and Border Patrol agents, which fall under her purview.
Over several months, ICE and CBP officers have been fanning out across Democratic-run cities — entering neighborhoods and homes to make arrests, aggressively spraying protesters with tear gas, and even detaining U.S. citizens. Federal officers have been involved in 16 shootings since July and have killed three people, including two U.S. citizens. Yet this sweeping immigration agenda and the consequent actions by federal officers were not part of the original mission of DHS.
Today, immigration reporter Marianne Levine discusses how former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has transformed DHS and what that could mean for its future.
Today’s show was produced by Sabby Robinson with help from Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Dennis Funk and mixed by Sam Bair.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | After both Alex Pretti and Renee Good were shot and killed weeks apart by Department of Homeland Security officers in Minneapolis. |
| 0:10.6 | The story from DHS Secretary, Christy Noem, was the same. |
| 0:15.2 | You asked about a shooting that we just had in Minneapolis, Minnesota. |
| 0:19.2 | It was an act of domestic terrorism. What happened |
| 0:22.4 | was our ICE officers were out in enforcement action. They got stuck in the snow because of the |
| 0:27.9 | adverse weather that is in Minneapolis. They were attempting to push out their vehicle, and a woman |
| 0:31.8 | attacked them and those surrounding them and attempted to run them over and ram them with her |
| 0:36.9 | vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him. |
| 0:44.3 | This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation |
| 0:50.3 | of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism. |
| 0:54.6 | That's the facts. |
| 0:55.8 | Right now, Nome is one of the most visible defenders of the tactics being used by immigration |
| 1:06.0 | and customs enforcement, which sits under DHS. |
| 1:09.8 | ICE officers and Border Patrol are fanning out across Democrat-run cities. |
| 1:14.9 | They're deploying to city streets. |
| 1:16.8 | They're entering neighborhoods and homes to make arrests. |
| 1:20.0 | They're aggressively spraying protesters with tear gas and even detaining U.S. citizens. |
| 1:25.8 | DHS officers have been involved in 16 shootings during |
| 1:29.6 | enforcement operations or at protests since July. They've killed three people, including two |
| 1:35.7 | U.S. citizens. |
| 1:41.9 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post reports. |
| 1:45.7 | I'm Martine Powers. |
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