How Kristi Noem transformed immigration enforcement

About this episode

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 t