Trump taps South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to helm Homeland Security

In a move that further signals Donald Trump’s commitment to enforce stringent controls on illegal immigration, the president-elect confirmed Tuesday he planned to appoint South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Trump has already signaled he will tap Stephen Miller and Tom Homan, two longtime allies with a track record of pushing for mass deportations and extreme clampdowns on immigrants, to serve senior roles as deputy chief of staff for policy and “border czar.”

Noem, 52, a Trump loyalist who has offered firm backing for the GOP leader's promise to carry out mass deportations, will preside over a vast department that oversees multiple agencies, including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The department has more than 260,000 employees and a $60-billion budget.

After Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, Noem was asked how a Trump administration would carry out his plan to deport millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally.

“It is going to be a big operation,” Noem told NewsNation. “President Trump has already indicated that he wants to start by deporting the most dangerous first — those criminals, murderers, rapists that are threatening safety in our communities. They’re going to be the first ones on the list to go. And from there, yes, it’s a commitment, but it’s a commitment to our national security interests.”

Noem, who Trump once considered as a possible running mate, signaled the new GOP administration would eventually target immigrants who had not committed crimes after arriving in the U.S.

“When they came into our country, let’s all remember: The first thing they did was break the law,” she said.

A rancher, farmer and business owner, Noem is currently serving her second four-year term as governor of South Dakota. In 2018, she was elected the first woman to take on the role after running on a platform of protecting South Dakotans against tax increases and big government.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem drew national criticism when she refused to close businesses or impose a statewide mask mandate.

“I believe in our freedoms and liberties,” Noem said during a Fox News interview. “What I’ve seen across the country is so many people give up their liberties for just a little bit of security and they don’t have to do that. If a leader will take too much power in a time of crisis, that is how we lose our country.”

Noem easily won reelection in 2022, defeating her Democratic opponent by 28 percentage points.

Even before Noem became governor, she expressed support for Trump’s immigration clampdown.

In 2017, when Noem was a U.S. representative for South Dakota, she expressed support for Trump’s “Muslim ban,” an executive order that temporarily suspended the U.S. refugee program and imposed a 90-day ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.

"My first priority is the safety and security of the American people," Noem said in a statement. "I share the President's concerns about our ability to screen refugees—especially those from terrorist hotbed areas. 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."

After President Biden won the White House, Noem was quick to voice opposition to his administration’s handling of the rising number of migrants crossing the southern border.

"South Dakota won't be taking any illegal immigrants that the Biden Administration wants to relocate,” Noem wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in 2021. "My message to illegal immigrants ... call me when you're an American."

In recent years, Noem sent multiple National Guard deployments to Texas to help secure its border with Mexico. In January, Noem said her administration was considering sending additional razor wire and security personnel.

“The United States of America is in a time of invasion,” Noem said in a speech to South Dakota legislators. “The invasion is coming over our southern border. The 50 states have a common enemy, and that enemy is the Mexican drug cartels. They are waging war against our nation. And these cartels are perpetuating violence in each of our states, even right here in South Dakota.”

In April, Noem was embroiled in controversy when she revealed in her book, “No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward,” that she shot and killed her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer, Cricket. The dog was “untrainable,” she wrote, and not cut out to be a hunting dog.

Noem defended her decision to kill Cricket, arguing the dog killed chickens and attacked her.

“What the point of the story is, is that most politicians, they will run from the truth,” Noem said on Fox News. “They will shy away and hide from making tough decisions. I don’t do either of those.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.