1 of 2 | Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies during a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the Department of Homeland Security in the Rayburn House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday. Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo
House Democrats grilled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday, one day after she appeared at a fiery Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
The House Judiciary Committee session came as the Department of Homeland Security approaches its third week of shutdown. While some Republicans cited heightened national security concerns after recent U.S. strikes on Iran as an impetus for a funding deal, Democrats refused to budge unless the Trump administration changes its immigration enforcement tactics.
Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and ranking member Jamie Raskin, R-Md., clashed in their opening statements, setting the tone for a sharply partisan meeting.
“Under Secretary Noem, fentanyl coming to the country is down, women and children are safer and most importantly, under Secretary Noem and President Trump’s leadership, the border is now secure,” Jordan said.
Jordan contrasted Noem’s accomplishments with the Biden administration’s border policies, sharply criticizing former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failure to secure the southern border.
Raskin offered a starkly different assessment of Noem’s record, citing the deaths of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
He condemned what he called Noem’s “smear campaigns” targeting Good and Pretti and focused on Noem’s claims that they were “domestic terrorists” — comments she made immediately after their deaths, while investigations into the incidents had just begun.
“Rather than work with state and local authorities to solve these homicides, you barred Minnesota’s investigators from the crime scenes,” Raskin said. “It smells like a cover-up, and it makes me wonder who the real ‘domestic terrorists’ are.”
Raskin later pressed Noem to apologize for her statements and to correct the “false and defamatory claim,” echoing a similar effort by senators to get her to apologize Tuesday. While she again refused to apologize or retract the statement, Noem offered her condolences to Good and Pretti’s families, marking a shift in tone from Tuesday.
“My heart is with them, and we will continue to stand with them as we get a complete investigation into these situations,” Noem said.
In her opening remarks, Noem turned to pay tribute to the relatives of Americans killed by immigrants in the country without legal status, often referred to as “angel families” by the Trump administration. Several family members stood and held up photos of victims.
Rep. Brad Knott, R-N.C., apologized to the families present for what he described as the “crocodile tears” and “fake sympathy” of colleagues across the aisle.
“I’m ashamed that they are still continuing to defend illegal immigration and act like it is not a mortal wound to this country,” Knott said. “Your country failed you, and I’m sorry.”
He asked the families to stand if they believed Democrats cared more about them than immigrants. No one stood.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., pushed back on Knott’s framing, acknowledging the families’ grief and disputing the claim that Democrats were indifferent to their loss. He added that Noem and Republican lawmakers also should consider families who have been wrongfully deported under current immigration policies, citing the case of his neighbor, Miguel Lopez.
“Miguel had done everything that was asked of him, went to every proceeding that he was supposed to go to, and in April was put in handcuffs as he was following the orders of the court and going to the proceedings,” Swalwell said. “He was arrested and sent to Mexico over a judge’s objection.”
Noem questioned whether Lopez had a criminal record, and Swalwell acknowledged that he had pleaded to a nonviolent charge in 1995. Noem responded that he should have followed the proper process and returned to Mexico voluntarily, arguing that doing so could have allowed him to come back lawfully.
Ahead of Thursday’s hearing to review legislation restricting sanctuary jurisdictions, House Republicans questioned Noem about the harms of what Jordan called “the dumbest policy” he’s ever heard.
Noem said sanctuary jurisdictions, also called sanctuary cities, obstruct federal immigration enforcement and make communities less safe.
