海角大神

Plans for the largest deportation operation in U.S. history rely on an institution whose leader the president fired this week.

Donning flak jackets and cowboy hats, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appeared in several videos over the past year defending agents and urging unauthorized immigrants to leave. Among other controversies, that self-promotion appears to have factored into President Donald Trump鈥檚 loss of confidence in her.

Ms. Noem鈥檚 demotion to become a 鈥渟pecial envoy鈥� for a new security initiative is the first Cabinet-level shakeup of Mr. Trump鈥檚 second term. The former South Dakota governor had drawn sharp criticism from Republicans in Congress over her leadership as well as her stewardship of taxpayer funding. Her ouster leaves the sprawling Department of Homeland Security in a leadership flux as it enters the fourth week of a funding shutdown 鈥� and stands alert for threats as the U.S. continues bombarding Iran.

The leadership shift also arrives at a moment when members of Congress and the American public are engaged in vigorous debates over the role and future of DHS, following its rollout of an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign that resulted in federal agents killing two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. Democratic leadership in the Senate is withholding funding to demand agency changes. Public polling shows disapproval among a majority of U.S. adults in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS agency.

At the department鈥檚 headquarters, 鈥淭he biggest problem it faces right now is legitimacy among the American public,鈥� says Henry Brady, professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Beyond a perceived lapse in ethics, he says, many Americans 鈥渄on鈥檛 think the culture that鈥檚 been created in places like Minneapolis is a good culture for any agency.鈥�

The president has tapped GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma as his next choice to be DHS secretary, with an expected March 31 start. The role requires Senate confirmation, which appears likely.

The next secretary will wade into the same challenges Ms. Noem faced over how to lead an agency overseeing immigration enforcement, disaster relief, border enforcement, and airline security, at a time of public polarization.

A secretary鈥檚 rise and missteps

After Ms. Noem鈥檚 stints as a state and federal lawmaker, South Dakotans elected her as their first female governor in 2018. During the Biden administration, she dispatched her state鈥檚 National Guard to the southern border to help fend off what she called a national security crisis stemming from high rates of illegal crossings.

Since her early days as DHS secretary, she featured prominently in the Trump administration鈥檚 social media videos and ads 鈥� from urging unauthorized immigrants to 鈥渟elf-deport鈥� to standing before detainees in a Salvadoran prison.

Though illegal migration had already begun to fall during President Joe Biden鈥檚 final months in office, Ms. Noem and other Trump officials touted their own successes along the border early on. Border Patrol encounters, a proxy for illegal crossings, fell from thousands per day under the past administration to thousands a month now.

Under Ms. Noem鈥檚 leadership, 鈥渨e saw mass deportations, record drops in border crossings, and the true end of catch and release,鈥� the National Border Patrol Council said in a post noting her departure.

But she could not overcome scrutiny of DHS鈥� immigration enforcement tactics and her own public profile.

Ms. Noem had 鈥渙bviously become a problem for the administration. So politically, [her firing] was overdue,鈥� says Mark Krikorian, executive director at the Center for Immigration Studies. After reports of infighting between Ms. Noem and other DHS top brass, Mr. Krikorian says, the question is whether the incoming secretary will let border czar Tom Homan and 鈥渢he other career professionals do their job.鈥�

As Ms. Noem leaves, Democrats in Congress don鈥檛 expect much to change.

鈥淐hanging the name on the door will not change the policies, the abuses, or the Trump administration鈥檚 rejection of congressional oversight,鈥� Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois said in a statement. 鈥淭he American people deserve a Department of Homeland Security that respects the rule of law and answers to the public. We must abolish Trump鈥檚 ICE.鈥�

In a way, surges in interior enforcement and deportations have overshadowed the administration鈥檚 achievements at the border, says Doris Meissner, director of the Migration Policy Institute鈥檚 U.S. immigration policy program.

The exporting of aggressive arrest tactics to city streets further north 鈥� such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis 鈥� 鈥渢urned the tables in ways that ultimately [have] led to Kristi Noem being fired,鈥� she says.

Pushback mounts

Beginning late last year, roughly 3,000 federal law enforcement agents surged to the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, where two Americans were fatally shot in January. DHS officials immediately claimed the acts were self-defense.

Ms. Noem took heat 鈥� including from some Republicans 鈥� for likening the slain citizens鈥� actions to domestic terrorism. Since mid-February, Democratic lawmakers have demanded reforms to immigration enforcement before voting to fund DHS. Critics of the holdup say the funds are especially vital to national security now, given a heightened threat environment amid the war in Iran.

The funding debate continued over testy exchanges with Ms. Noem in Congress this past week. Lawmakers, including Republicans, scrutinized reports of potential conflicts of interest and lack of transparency. They probed some of the department鈥檚 contracts, including for the 鈥渟elf-deportation鈥� ad campaign. Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana challenged the secretary on the ads鈥� origins.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e testifying that President Trump approved this ahead of time? Is that my understanding?鈥� asked the senator.

鈥淲e had conversations about making sure that we were telling people 鈥撯��

鈥淣o ma鈥檃m,鈥� the senator cut her off. 鈥淚鈥檓 asking ya, sorry to interrupt 鈥� but the president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?鈥�

Ms. Noem affirmed again and noted 鈥渉ow effective鈥� the ads had been.

鈥淲ell, they were effective in your name recognition,鈥� said the senator. 鈥淭o me, it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot.鈥�

Mr. Trump has denied the secretary鈥檚 account of the ads, which reportedly angered him. 鈥淚 never knew anything about it,鈥� he told Reuters.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut has called for a perjury investigation into whether Ms. Noem lied under oath to Congress about contracts for advertising campaigns.

Separate accusations had been piling up for weeks, including internal frustrations with the secretary鈥檚 leadership and her alleged affair with a DHS adviser (Ms. Noem has called the rumor 鈥渢abloid garbage鈥�). Then, in a March 2 letter to Congress, the DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari claimed that the department had 鈥渟ystematically obstructed the work鈥� of his office over the past several months.

Mr. Cuffari alleged several instances in which DHS agencies denied the watchdog access to data. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the inspector general鈥檚 claims.

鈥淭here are oversight mechanisms. They鈥檝e not been properly utilized,鈥� says Daniel Altman, the former head of investigations at the Office of Professional Responsibility at Customs and Border Protection, which falls under DHS.

Since he left the administration last year, Mr. Altman has raised transparency concerns around his former agency鈥檚 handling of the death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the hands of CBP personnel.

DHS officials need to rely on oversight protocols established by Congress and promote transparency, he says. 鈥淭hat will win back people鈥檚 confidence.鈥�

鈥淭rying to manage the whole鈥�

Leadership shakeups aren鈥檛 new at DHS, which spans border and airport security, disaster funding, and the Secret Service.

During the Biden administration, the House impeached Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of the southern border. (The Senate dismissed the charges.) During his first term, Mr. Trump rotated through several secretaries in the post. Observers say DHS is an especially challenging Cabinet-level department to run.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an aggregation of disparate pieces that were put together in sort of a forced marriage after 9/11,鈥� says Professor Brady, who is also a past president of the American Political Science Association. 鈥淓ach successive secretary has struggled with trying to manage the whole.鈥�

Restructuring the department is an option 鈥� but unrealistic, given the difficulties of such an enormous undertaking, says Ms. Meissner, a former head of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which predated DHS.

Despite the secretary鈥檚 range of responsibilities, she says, 鈥淟eadership tone does matter.鈥� Ms. Noem 鈥渕ade some very serious mistakes and misjudgments.鈥�

Mr. Mullin, the Oklahoma senator, on Thursday expressed a mix of surprise and gratitude for Mr. Trump鈥檚 nomination for the job. A plumbing business owner, he also has a ranching background, like the outgoing secretary. During the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, he helped barricade a door in the House chamber against rioters seeking entry.

Senator Mullin has defended the administration鈥檚 immigration crackdown. Yet if confirmed, he will inherit DHS at a time when the public has soured on interior immigration enforcement, polling shows.

Mr. Mullin鈥檚 home state, where every county voted for Mr. Trump in 2024, has shown similar fissures in support. While Oklahoma has touted close collaboration with ICE, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has questioned the 鈥渆ndgame鈥� of interior raids and mass deportation. The mayor of Oklahoma City, also a Republican, commended聽property owners who he said walked away from a potential deal with DHS to use their sites as an ICE facility.

While the administration might be concerned about optics, it doesn鈥檛 appear open to changing mass deportation policy, says Ms. Meissner.

She would advise Mr. Mullin to recognize that deporting the 鈥渨orst of the worst鈥� criminals from the country 鈥渃an only be carried out effectively by a much more targeted enforcement effort,鈥� she says.

Staff writer Caitlin Babcock contributed reporting from Washington.