Noem Defends ICE Tactics in Minnesota  03/04 06:14

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended her 
department's immigration enforcement tactics in front of a Senate committee on 
Tuesday and pushed back against criticism from Democrats who say she wrongly 
disparaged two protesters killed by federal officers in Minneapolis earlier 
this year.

   It was Noem's first congressional appearance since the shooting deaths of 
the two protesters galvanized widespread opposition to how the Trump 
administration is executing its mass deportation agenda, a centerpiece policy 
of President Donald Trump's second term. At the time, Noem portrayed the 
protesters, two U.S. citizens, as agitators, although accounts from local 
officials and bystander video contradicted assertions from her and other 
administration officials.

   In one exchange, retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina 
called her leadership a "disaster" and skewered her handling of the immigration 
crackdown and her management of emergency response.

   In the hearing, which stretched nearly five hours, Noem defended her 
agency's treatment of immigrants caught up in enforcement activities, and 
blamed activists and others for attacks against officers.

   "I want to address the dangerous environment that our ICE officers face on 
the streets today," Noem said. "They are facing a serious and escalating threat 
as a result of deliberate mischaracterizations of their heroic work and 
rhetoric that demonizes our law enforcement."

   Since the deaths in Minneapolis, the administration has taken steps meant to 
tone down tensions, including drawing down the operation there. But the 
administration has continued pressing restrictions against both legal and 
illegal immigration, has been buying up warehouses for immigration detention 
and persisting in federal enforcement in areas around the country. Noem said 
about 650 investigators remain in Minnesota as part of a broader fraud probe.

   The immigration tactics of Noem's department have triggered a clash in 
Congress over its routine funding, which remains unresolved, although a 
spending bill passed last year granted it a significant infusion of cash for 
the Republican administration's mass deportation policy. Noem called the 
partial shutdown "reckless" and blamed Democrats for a move she said put 
national security at risk.

   Her appearance in front of the Judiciary Committee also comes after a 
weekend shooting at a bar in Texas that is being investigated as a possible act 
of terrorism, leading to concerns that the escalating conflict in Iran could 
have repercussions for security in the U.S.

   Noem blames chaotic situation for her characterization of killed protesters

   In what was initially billed as an effort to root out fraud in Minnesota, 
Homeland Security sent hundreds of officers from Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to the state. They were met by 
protesters who organized marches, patrolled neighborhoods for ICE activity with 
whistles and ferried food to immigrants too afraid to leave their homes.

   Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by an ICE 
officer on Jan. 7, setting off intense protests demanding an end to the 
operation. Then on Jan. 24, Customs and Border Protection officers opened fire 
on another Minnesota resident, Alex Pretti, who had been filming enforcement 
operations.

   Those deaths led to cries for accountability and transparency. Noem, whose 
initial comments portrayed both Good and Pretti as the aggressors, has come 
under withering criticism by Democrats and some Republicans, who have called 
for her to resign.

   Democrats repeatedly questioned Noem about her initial comments and called 
on her to apologize.

   "You and your agency rushed to brand these victims as, quote, domestic 
terrorists," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the 
committee. "We have ample video evidence and eyewitness testimony proving you 
are wrong. Your statements caused immeasurable pain to these families."

   Noem said she was relying on information from people on the scene and blamed 
"violent protesters" for contributing to the chaos officers encountered.

   "I was getting reports from the ground from agents at the scene, and I would 
say that it was a chaotic scene," she said.

   After public outrage over the deaths, Trump sent border czar Tom Homan to 
Minneapolis to take control of operations. Homan has since announced a drawdown 
of the ICE and CBP officers who had been sent to Minnesota to carry out what 
had been dubbed Operation Metro Surge, although he's been adamant that the 
president's mass deportation agenda will continue.

   Noem also faced some Republican criticism

   Republicans largely kept the focus on the large numbers of migrants who came 
into the country under former President Joe Biden, portraying Noem as the 
leader of a cleanup effort of the former administration's mess.

   But she did come under some harsh questioning by members of her own party. 
Tillis, who called on Noem to resign following the shootings in Minneapolis, 
criticized her for erroneously arresting American citizens, for failures in her 
disaster recovery agency and for how she shot her own dog.

   "What we've seen is a disaster under your leadership, Miss Noem, a 
disaster," Tillis said. "What we've seen is innocent people getting detained 
that turn out are American citizens."

   Tillis, who has already announced that he is not running for another term., 
added: "We're beginning to get the American people to think that deporting 
people is wrong. It's the exact opposite. The way you're going about deporting 
them is wrong." .

   Another Republican, Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana, also pushed her to 
explain why her department paid more than $200 million for an ad campaign she 
appeared in last year encouraging migrants to leave the country voluntarily and 
questioned whether Trump knew about the price tag ahead of time.

   Noem, who is set to appear Wednesday in front of a House committee, defended 
those ads, saying they were effective and went through the regular department 
bidding process.

   "Well, they were effective in your name recognition," Kennedy said.