President-elect Trump on Wednesday announced he has selected South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
A source familiar confirmed the news earlier Tuesday to The Hill. Trump made it official in an announcement later that day.
“Kristi has been very strong on Border Security,” Trump said in a statement. “She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries.”
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Noem was previously floated as a possible running mate for Trump, but her consideration fizzled after the release of her autobiography, in which she described having killed a dog that was “untrainable.”
Instead, the Republican governor is tapped to lead the sprawling agency tasked with protecting the U.S from terror threats, securing the borders and enforcing U.S. immigration law. Trump has also tasked DHS with carrying out the “largest deportation operation in American history.”
The pick of Noem is the latest sign of Trump’s intention to take a hard line on immigration policy, with an agenda he has said will represent the largest deportation in U.S. history.
If confirmed, Noem would work closely with Stephen Miller, whom Trump tapped to serve as his deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller was instrumental in shaping many of Trump’s toughest immigration policies in his first term.
Trump also selected Tom Homan as his “border czar,” welcoming back an early proponent of child separation under the first Trump administration who, in discussing the forthcoming Trump administration’s immigration plans, recently said “families can be deported together.”
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Noem has little national security experience, but she did send the South Dakota National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border and has been vocal on immigration issues.
“South Dakota won’t be taking any illegal immigrants that the Biden Administration wants to relocate. My message to illegal immigrants… call me when you’re an American,” Noem wrote on social platform X in 2021, shortly after President Biden took office.
She also supported Trump’s Muslim travel ban while serving as a member of Congress and also supported pausing some refugee screening.
“I share the President’s concerns about our ability to screen refugees—especially those from terrorist hotbed areas,” Noem said in 2017. “I support putting a temporary pause on accepting refugees from terrorist-held areas—at least until the administration can certify that asylum-seekers do not present a safety threat to the U.S.”
Noem was also previously floated as a possible Interior secretary.
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“I love being Governor of South Dakota, and President Trump knows that I’ll help him however I can,” Noem said at the time.
Noem was a regular with Trump on the campaign trail, including at one event that turned into a music listening session after multiple medical emergencies among attendees.
DHS contains a number of key public safety agencies. Beyond its immigration duties, it also contains the Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
It also contains the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is tasked with helping companies prevent cyberattacks as well as attacks on physical infrastructure.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Brett Samuels contributed.
Updated at 7:50 p.m. EST