DHS Oversight Hearings Day Two

Speaker 1 (22:57):

The committee will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare recess at any time. We welcome everyone to today's hearing on oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Ander for leading us in the pledge.

Speaker 2 (23:19):

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Speaker 1 (23:32):

We'll begin with opening statements and then get right to the secretary's testimony. The chair will now recognize himself for an opening statement. Three years ago, Secretary Mayorkas sat at that table and told this committee the border is secure. Eight to 10 million people entered our country in a four-year time illegally, record levels of fentanyl smuggled in stories of women and children being harmed and abused.

(23:56)
And we all remember what we saw, whether it was the bridge in Del Rio, all the thousands of people waiting to be processed there when we took trips to Mac County. We all remember what we saw. Agents had become processors and chauffeurs for the Biden administration's open border policy.

(24:16)
And Secretary Mayorkas told this committee in that same chair that Secretary Noem sits in now that the border is secure. Kind of reminds me of that now somewhat famous moment on television where the CNN reporter is standing in front of the burning building and saying, "It's a mostly peaceful protest." It was just ridiculous what the secretary said.

(24:37)
And Secretary Mayorkas didn't stop there. Remember when he went after border patrol agents said they were horse whipping migrants trying to come to the... Remember that just completely made up story? Remember when we asked Secretary Mayorkas, how many illegals, again, sat right in this committee here and we asked him, "How many illegals on the terrorist watch list have been released into the US? How many have been released into the country?"

(25:01)
Anyone remember his response? "I don't know." And we're like, "Man, you're the secretary of Homeland Security. That's probably something you should know, particularly when you come in front of the judiciary committee." And we asked you that question. Remember when days before a hearing, subsequent hearing, because we got tired of the I don't know response from Secretary Mayorkas, we sent him a letter with questions we were going to ask him so he couldn't say, "I don't know."

(25:33)
Basically like the professor giving the students here's the questions on the exam, be prepared to deal with these at the appropriate time. When he got to committee, we asked him those questions and again he said, "I don't know. I'll have to get back with you." And of course, he never does, never did get back with us. Remember when Secretary Mayorkas wrote the memo, the Mayorkas Memo, aliens removable under the Immigration Nationality Act.

(26:01)
He said, "The Immigration Nationality Act should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action." Really? The law shouldn't be the basis for an enforcement action? It should be something else? It should be your memo? That was exactly the policy. A whole new standard the last administration set. They led eight to 10 million people in, a whole new standard of how you were going to deal with people who were in violation of federal law.

(26:26)
And remember when Secretary Mayorkas went even further, he did the protected areas memorandum. And this is the situation when you're trying to follow federal law, trying to enforce federal law. He said, "You can't apprehend an illegal migrant, maybe one who's been charged with another crime and been released in a sanctuary jurisdiction," something I know some of these angel families know something about been released in a sanctuary jurisdiction, "You could only apprehend them at certain locations.

(26:57)
So in other words, think about it. It says, "In or near certain protected areas, you should not apprehend an illegal migrant, a school, preschool, primary school, secondary school, place of worship, a place where children gather such as a playground, recreation center," all these restrictions on federal law enforcement being able to enforce federal law. So think about it. Some sanctuary jurisdiction, the illegal migrant's been charged with another crime, maybe a crime abusing children, is released because the detainer is not honored. He's not turned over to ISIS, released to the streets.

(27:33)
You're not allowed to go get a guy who's been charged with harming kids if he's near a school, if he's near kids. That was how ridiculous everything was in the last administration. But here's the good news. Secretary Noem has rescinded the Mayorkas Memo, has rescinded the protected areas memo. Under Secretary Noem, fentanyl coming into the country is down. Women and children are safer.

(27:58)
And most importantly, under Secretary Noem and President Trump's leadership, the border is now secure. Remember that moment? We all remember the great speech president gave last week at the State of the Union, but the joint address he gave the year before, one of the best lines I remember with that address was he said, "People said you need a new legislation to secure the border, turned out all you needed was a new president."

(28:19)
Remember that line? It's true. New president with the secretary who was doing her job. In one year's time, 700 people have been deported under Secretary of Noem's leadership. Nearly three million people have left the country. 1400 known or suspected terrorists have been arrested. Been arrested. Not Secretary Mayorkas telling, "I don't know." The status of people we've encountered on the border on the terrorist watch list.

(28:43)
It's amazing record, Madam Secretary, but there's still one big problem. Oh, one other thing. Another thing that's not going on with the Department of Homeland Security now, no more disinformation governance board, no more bureaucrats on a board telling Americans what they can say, what they can tweet, what they can read, what they can post. No more censorship going on at the department of Homeland Security.

(29:06)
But there is still one big problem. And I know the secretary wants to deal with this and we're going to deal with this tomorrow with legislation that we plan to mark up in this committee. And that is the sanctuary jurisdiction policies that are happening all over the country. Left-wing political officials and state and local government telling their local law enforcement, "Do not work with federal law enforcement when it comes to enforcing federal law."

(29:28)
One-third of the country, almost one-third of the country lives in the sanctuary jurisdiction. 18 cities, 11 states, three counties, District of Columbia, but their big population areas, 31 and a half percent of the country lives in a jurisdiction where that is the policy. That may be the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And we talked about this individual case last week.

(29:47)
Abraham Gonzalez, September 20th, 2023, is arrested by border patrol for illegally entering the country. Of course, the Biden administration released him. Five months later, he's charged with assault. Two weeks after that, he's charged with motor vehicle theft. He stole a car. He's arrested by Denver Police nine days later, placed in the Denver Justice Center.

(30:07)
Six days after that, I sends a detainer notice to the Denver Justice Center. All the detainer notice is, "Give us a heads-up if you're going to let this guy out. Just give us a heads-up." But instead of doing that, instead of doing the common sense thing, in Denver, sanctuary jurisdiction, they give the federal government the finger and they release him to the streets. Release them to the streets. It's right here on the form.

(30:32)
Denver Sheriff Department ICE notification being released to the streets on 2/28/2025. And here's what's interesting. This guy, they knew how bad he was because while he was in the Denver Justice Center, they have on the form, "He's been violent to staff, keep him separate from all other inmates."

(30:51)
So he's so dangerous staff can't be around him. Other inmates can't be around him, but they're going to release him to the streets instead of turning him over to ICE. Again, dumbest policy I have ever heard, but that is what the left now fully embraces.

(31:06)
Let me give you a more recent example. Marvin Morales Ortiz. This is just next door. Fairfax County, Virginia. Detainer is sent, but the Fairfield County Justice Center says, "We will not honor the detainer." They tell him that on September 14th, 2025, they release Mr. Ortiz on December 18th, 2025. The next day, he kills an American. Next day, he kills an individual, murder someone.

(31:42)
That is what happens in sanctuary jurisdiction. That is why tomorrow help is on the way because we're going to mark up legislation that will deal with this. I believe it will pass our committee. I believe it will pass the house. We'll get it to the... I want this to become law. I think most people with common sense want it to become law. The shutdown sanctuary policies acts, which will give the people...

(32:05)
One thing in our bill that we're going to have in the bill tomorrow too, be in the legislation, it'll get the people behind you where that scenario is played out, your loved one has been harmed by someone who should have been turned over to ICE but was released. It'll give you a private right of action for these angel families, private right of action where you can go after the government who engaged in that stupid behavior.

(32:26)
So, Secretary, I want to thank you for your work. I want to thank you for being willing to come today and answer our questions. And with that, I will yield to the gentleman from Maryland, the ranking member for his opening comments.

Speaker 3 (32:38):

Well, thank you kindly, Mr. Chairman. And welcome Secretary Noem. We're glad to meet you, even though it's been 13 months since you took office in more than five weeks since two American citizens were shot dead in Minneapolis. Renee Goode was a 37-year-old poet, about 20 years younger than you are now. And like you, both a devout Christian

Jamie Raskin (33:00):

... and the mother of three. She was on her way home from school drop-off when she encountered an ICE operation and one of your agents shot her dead, shot her three times. She bled out in the driver's seat of her car after your agents refused to let a doctor or EMTs approach her. You expressed no sympathy for her family and no regret for her killing by an ICE agent. You ran a smear campaign against Renee Good. You called her a domestic terrorist.

(33:34)
Alex Pretti was also 37 and like you, a federal worker. He was an ICU nurse at a VA hospital, outstanding in his job, providing comfort to many of our vets in their final hours. He was standing on a street corner filming your agents as they roughed up peaceful protestors. Americans have a First Amendment right to record government agents in public places, as eight different federal circuit courts have unanimously found. But your agents pepper sprayed Alex Pretti for helping a woman that they had pushed to the ground. Then they threw him to the ground. They beat him up. They stripped him of a lawful firearm he had never touched. And then after confiscating it, they shot him dead with 10 bullets.

(34:22)
Before his body was even cold, you launched a smear campaign against him using the same language, asserting without evidence that Alex Pretti had committed a, quote, "act of domestic terrorism and intended to kill law enforcement." This disturbing video tells the true facts you tried to cover up with propaganda. And we can play it only because other brave Americans used their phones to capture the actual reality of this horror.

MSNBC News Anchor 1 (34:52):

... deadly ICE involved shooting out of Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Police Chief says a woman was killed after being shot in the head by an ICE agent.

Witness (35:00):

No! No! Shame! Shame! Oh my God.

MSNBC News Anchor 1 (35:04):

Renee Nicole Good was a 37-year-old US citizen and mother of three who moved to Minnesota just last year.

Witness (35:10):

What the...

Kristi Noem (35:13):

It was an act of domestic terrorism.

MSNBC News Anchor 2 (35:14):

Breaking news in Minneapolis and another deadly shooting involving a federal officer in that city. This video shows the incident from this morning, with officers surrounding a man before taking him down and shooting him during a struggle. Officials later said the man had died. Minneapolis city officials said the man is a 37-year-old white male, a resident of Minneapolis. They also say he is believed to be an American citizen and that he was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.

Kristi Noem (35:46):

This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism. That's the facts.

Jamie Raskin (35:59):

Madam Secretary, you've provided no evidence to back up your defamatory lie against either of these American citizens. There have been three homicides in Minneapolis in 2026. Your agents committed two of them. Rather than work with state and local authorities to solve these homicides, you barred Minnesota's investigators from the crime scenes. You're denying them access to all the evidence that you have about the deaths of their citizens. It smells like a coverup, and it makes me wonder who the real domestic terrorists are.

(36:32)
But you didn't just lie about Renee Good and Alex Pretti. In dozens of cases, federal judges have found that your officials lied to them in court. A Reagan-appointed judge rejected the testimony of your acting ICE director as, quote, "disingenuous, squalid, and dishonorable." Another judge called the affidavit of a top ICE official, quote, "The sorriest statement I've ever seen," adding she was shocked when she saw it, and that, "if you were asking to get a warrant issued on this, I'd throw you out of my chambers."

(37:05)
Here are a few more examples of the many scores we found in the casebooks. Yesterday, you insisted under oath to the Senate that you follow court orders, but that's not true either. Just last month, your lawyers were forced to admit that you had violated immigration court orders more than 50 times in 10 weeks. And that was just in New Jersey, one of 94 judicial districts in America. In Minnesota, Judge Patrick Schilltz, a George W. Bush appointee, concluded, quote, "that ICE has likely violated more court orders in January of 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence."

(37:46)
And while you make a daily mockery of our courts and our constitution, you're treating the billions of dollars our colleagues showered on your department like a personal slush fund. You've budgeted an astonishing $220 million for media consultant contracts, so you can star in self-promoting photo shoots and lavish ad campaigns like this one of you riding horseback at Mount Rushmore, which was shot during last year's government shutdown. You're living rent-free in the official waterfront residence reserved for the commandant of the US Coast Guard. You spent $172 million to buy not one, but two luxury jets for your travel. And now you're using taxpayer funds to lease a third jet, a $70 million luxury 737 MAX with a queen-size bedroom in the back, a deluxe serving bar, and four flat-screen TVs. A big, beautiful jet paid for by the big, beautiful bill.

(38:49)
Yesterday, under questioning the Senate, you said you plan to refurbish this jet to make it into this kind of airplane, which is what's actually being used for deportations, in order to save the taxpayers' money. In other words, you're saying that's actually a deportation plane. But wouldn't it have been cheaper just to buy a deportation plane in the first place? It's like buying a Rolls-Royce to turn into a metro bus.

(39:15)
I was almost prepared to buy that story of how the jet was both for executive travel and mass deportation. And then I heard about an airborne episode of entitlement, arrogance, and contempt, that I could hardly believe. Apparently, when your special blanket, your blankie, was left on one of the government jets and not transported over to the new one, your special government employee, Corey Lewandowski, chivalrously stepped forward to fire the pilot midair, a 2003 Coast Guard Academy graduate and distinguished US Coast Guard commander in Air Station Washington DC. But then he had to be rehired immediately because there was no one else who could fly the two of you on the rest of the journey back home.

(40:00)
Secretary Noem, you're flying high now, maybe even a little bit too close to the sun, but with all these free planes and houses and pilots, you've traveled a long distance from your actual job and the things you should be doing as Head of Homeland Security.

(40:16)
Your agency is charged with protecting the homeland. It includes FEMA, TSA, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, as well as ICE and CBP. Yet you've hollowed out the National Security Mission. You redeployed thousands of people responsible for tracking terror financing and fighting cyber threats to go work on your mass immigration roundup. You reassigned to the roundup agents working a key national security probe into Iran's terror financing, paralyzing that investigation. And to run what's left of Homeland Security's ruined Terrorism Prevention office, you actually installed a 22-year-old intern whose chief listed qualification for the job was that he had participated in a Model UN club his junior year of college.

(41:10)
Through FEMA, you're supposed to provide disaster relief to our communities. Yet last summer as floods devastated Central Texas and killed 135 people, including 25 girls and 2 counselors at a Christian summer camp, you withheld crucial support, including search and rescue teams, for 72 hours. Why? Those were three crucial days during which people drowned and died, waiting for bureaucratic approval.

(41:39)
You promised to use ICE and CBP to expel the worst of the worst, undocumented immigrants guilty of committing violent crimes, like the people responsible for murdering the children of these angel families, these angel moms and dads who've joined us today. Instead, your masked agents have been indiscriminately rounding up any and all immigrants and citizens who your agents think look like they might be immigrants. They've arrested kindergartners, daycare teachers, and parents dropping off kids at school. They dragged grandparents out of their homes in their underwear in subzero temperatures, and ripped children out of their beds in the middle of the night or used them as bait to arrest their parents.

(42:24)
Just last month, your agents picked up Nurul Shah Alam, a severely disabled and nearly blind Rohingya refugee lawfully in America, who didn't speak English. You claimed your agents dropped him at a safe, warm location. Again, not the truth. They dropped him off miles from his home in the dark, at a closed coffee shop in subfreezing temperatures. And now, because of this cruelty, this man too is dead. You have a quarter of a million employees and a budget larger than that of 150 countries. You command over 80,000 sworn law enforcement officers, more than the number of police officers in New York, Chicago, LA, Houston, DC, Las Vegas, and Dallas combined. On top of that, our colleagues have handed ICE an additional $75 billion by slashing funds for Medicaid, children's health insurance, and rural hospitals.

(43:22)
Secretary Noem, your job is to protect the homeland, but the most precious possession that we've got in our homeland is our freedom, and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that protect it. You seem to have forgotten what our most precious possession is. The billions of dollars showered on your department have paid for violence and chaos in the American heartland and a sweeping assault on the basic rights of the American people. But the heroic citizens of Minneapolis have shown America how to fight back against this reign of terror and win with the truth, with solidarity, with mutual self-help, with creative joy and humor and music, with mass nonviolent assembly and protest, and with irrepressible love of children and kindness towards animals and other living things.

(44:12)
You've turned our government against our people and you've turned our people against our government. But the people are winning today, although we know we must continue to wake up every day like the people of Minneapolis and go out and fight for constitutional freedom. We are clearly in the fight of our lives and we obviously have very serious questions for you today about what you are turning our government into.

(44:35)
I yield back, Mr. Chairman.

Jim Jordan (44:36):

Gentlemen Yields back. Without objection, all of their opening statements will be included in the record. We will now introduce today's witnesses. Ms. Noem has served as the Secretary of Department of Homeland Security since January 25th, 2025. She previously served as the governor of the Great State of South Dakota and was our colleague here in the House of Representatives. And we welcome our witness and thank her for appearing today and for the work that she is doing.

(44:56)
We will begin by swearing you in. You know how this works, Madam Secretary, would you please rise and raise your right hand? Do you swear and affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you're about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief, so help you God?

Kristi Noem (45:10):

I do.

Jim Jordan (45:11):

Let the record reflect that the witness has answered in the affirmative.

(45:16)
Please know that your written testimony will be entered into the record in its entirety. Accordingly, we ask that you summarize your testimony. And Madam Secretary, you are recognized.

Kristi Noem (45:25):

Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you Ranking Member Raskin for your opening statements. And I look forward to discussing the work that the Department of Homeland Security does each and every day to defend our homeland. I also want to take a personal privilege and thank my husband for being here too. He's going to have to go catch a flight in a few hours, but I'm glad he could be here today.

(45:44)
And then I want to remind you of why we're all here. I've had people ask me over and over again, "Kristi, why did you say to President Trump that you would do this job?" And I said, "Because this is going to be a difficult job. It's going to be a hard job. We're going to have to secure our border and make sure we're going after dangerous criminal illegals and remove them from our country. And every day, we're going to have to make tough decisions to uphold the law, but to make sure that the consequences for breaking the law are put in place as well."

(46:16)
The one thing I would say is I wasn't quite prepared for, was the heartbreaking stories I would hear. The families that have lost their children, their brothers and their sisters, to dangerous people that came into this country that never should have been here to begin with. They never should have been here. And then they perpetuated violent crimes against these people. I heard one story. I'll never forget hearing Rachel Morin's mom tell the story of how she was killed. And to listen to a mom talk about how her daughter was slammed until her head exploded and then he raped her and left her dead when knowing that Rachel had five kids too, that now didn't have a mom anymore, and that that individual should have never been in this country.

(46:59)
So the reason that I do this job every single day is for that. Is that somebody has to do the right thing and tell the stories of these families and make sure that we don't sit around here and make political pot shots on falsehoods and lies like I just heard from the ranking member, that instead we do the right thing to defend these families and remember their children. Behind me are families with children. These are the children's names that we've lost. Weston Funder, Megan Booze, Carlos Wolf, Sander Cohen, Ryan Lang, Drew Swan, Sydney Shurkin, Jesse Biera, Heaven Lee Nelson, Dana and Ricky Keem, Austin Babcock, Michael Bowden, Logan Harris, Leo Tow, Haley King, Rain Reese, Wesley Green, Krisha Odette.

(47:51)
And we are still very blessed to have little Ms. Delilah with us. Delilah's right behind me and she and I are good friends. And she was hit by a vehicle, by a truck that was driven by someone who's in this country illegally and had an illegal CDL. That accident should have never happened because he never should have been in this country and he certainly shouldn't have been behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler. But she's still with us and she's doing good and she's telling her story with her dad and her family and continuing to make sure that we do the right thing here on Capitol Hill.

(48:24)
Listen, the Department of Homeland Security was established after the attacks on 9/11. It was established to defend our homeland and put all the agencies together that have that mission, and that's what we do each and every day. We make sure that we enforce the law and that we protect our homeland and that the families that live here, the American citizens, are our number one priority. For 10 straight months, Border Patrol has released zero illegal aliens into this country. In President Trump's first historic year back in office, over 3 million illegal aliens have left our country.

(48:53)
We've arrested 700,000 of them and detained them and removed them from the country, but over 2.2 million of them left voluntarily. You know why? Because we told them to. We marketed to them. We ran a media campaign that was the most effective media campaign in the history of this country. $39 billion of taxpayer savings because those people left and got off of our programs, and we didn't have to deport them at a cost of $18,000 a piece. They went on their own. And it saved the taxpayers $39 billion because we told this country and the eight countries they were coming from that we were enforcing our laws and you couldn't stay here illegally anymore. ICE has arrested over 1,500 known or suspected terrorists. 1,500 that Joe Biden let in over that open border during that invasion, that we found and we've removed. And we're going to continue to do that work because we don't know how many more there are still here. Over 7,700 gang members. And Mr. Chairman, Joe Biden lost 450,000 children that they allowed the cartels to traffic over the border. They used them, they abused them, they put them with government sponsors and paid government sponsors to abuse them and traffic them. We have found 145,000 of them, but I'm not going to stop until we find them all. And we'll continue to do that.

(50:07)
Fentanyl trafficking over the Southern border's down 56% because of President Trump. We continue to stop drugs. 1.7 lethal doses of drugs have been stopped from coming into our country in the last year. Phenomenal. Phenomenal. It's amazing to me how once President Trump came into office, they quit talking about the drug epidemic. The media doesn't cover it anymore, do they? That's because there's 1.7 billion people that are still alive today in this world because we've stopped them.

(50:35)
And that invasion over the Southern border made those cartels rich. You want to know why they're so sophisticated now, why they have high-tech weapons, why they have drones, why they're able to be so successful? Is because they were allowed to do whatever they wanted to for four years. And Biden enriched them and the Democrat Party enriched them so that they could perpetuate violence against the United States.

(50:55)
Mr. Chairman, I could go on and on, but I will look forward to the conversation today and I look forward to continuing to fight for America. Thank you. I yield back.

Jim Jordan (51:03):

Thank you. Thank you for that opening statement. We will now go to gentleman from California. Mr. Issa for a five-minute question.

Darrell Issa (51:09):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Secretary, I couldn't be happier that you're exactly where you are. Many of us had the honor of serving with you when you were in the House. And candidly, when I hear the jealousy of the ranking member for the job you're doing and his inaccurate statements, that's all I hear is, you were better than this body and you're proving it every day. You and President Trump.

(51:37)
The ranking member is entitled to his opinion and to that dialogue, berating you and everything the administration's doing. He's just not entitled to his facts. And I'd like to spend my time concentrating on a few of those. Madam Secretary, were any laws changed significantly between the time of, let's say, President Obama or President Clinton and their enforcement of the border, and Joe Biden's four years?

Kristi Noem (52:04):

No, there wasn't, sir.

Darrell Issa (52:06):

And were any laws changed between the time that Joe Biden let 10 million-plus people into the country, including the worst of the worst from around the world, and the time that you and President Trump began working?

Kristi Noem (52:18):

No, there wasn't.

Darrell Issa (52:19):

So it's not about laws. It's not about the calls of things being constitutional or unconstitutional. Isn't it true that every president except President Biden spent a lot of time, energy, and public relations, letting people know that the border was a place to be respected and that we would deport particularly criminals coming into our country?

Kristi Noem (52:44):

That is correct.

Darrell Issa (52:45):

So regardless of what the ranking member says, all you've really done, with gusto, with tenacity and with all the funds you've been able to have, is you've done exactly what President Clinton did or President Obama or any other president who respected the Constitution and the laws we've already passed?

Kristi Noem (53:05):

That is correct.

Darrell Issa (53:06):

So I want to touch on a personal note though. You've been to the White House, you've been to the vice president's residencies. Both of those exist as working places, but they exist as places to protect people who in fact would be attacked. Is it fair to say that you and your family are at greater risk because of the job you're doing than anyone who's had your job perhaps since 9/11?

Kristi Noem (53:34):

Yes, sir. I can't speak specific to the threats, but [inaudible 00:53:38]

Darrell Issa (53:37):

And so when the ranking member spends so much time talking about your being in a protective housing, by the way, one that is under your authority and one that the head of the Coast Guard normally would be in, I'm just going to make a statement, a view, an opinion, and hopefully the ranking member will agree with this opinion.

(53:58)
The chances that the commandant of the Coast Guard is going to be attacked for the job he's doing and the chance that you will be attacked causes both of you to be in protective housing. You're simply in the housing that he historically had, and I want to thank the administration for recognizing the threat on you and your family for the work you do.

Kristi Noem (54:19):

Can I... ?

Darrell Issa (54:19):

Yes.

Kristi Noem (54:19):

Let me clarify a couple of things. I'm not in the commandant's house. I'm in a Coast Guard house, but not the commandant's house. The commandant is in his house. And I will also tell you that I rent that facility. I rent where I stay and pay in personal dollars to do that.

Darrell Issa (54:33):

So I'm hearing the ranking member making statements that aren't true, but they're his opinions. I want to thank you for correcting that. I apologize for not knowing it's the commandant's residents. I have been in that in the past and he does use it for both official and unofficial. It's the reason he has it.

Kristi Noem (54:51):

[inaudible 00:54:51]

Darrell Issa (54:51):

And the CNO is also housed in an alternative [inaudible 00:54:56] And by the way, that alternative, just for history, we moved the vice president under Gerald Ford to that residency. And Congress did it and has made the decision that protecting key people and their families so they can do their job is important. And I want to make that point clear today.

(55:14)
Now, the ranking member will doubtlessly be the next person, and you will have to put up with five minutes and one second of berating again. So I want to give you this last 50 seconds to talk just once more about the families behind you, because he implied that he was compassionate for those families, that he understood it. I'm looking at them, and Madam Secretary, I don't see them as being here in support of those four years of Joe Biden and the ranking member's administration.

Kristi Noem (55:44):

No. And it's interesting because when President Trump was here in his last term, he opened up an office at ICE to help these families, to give them information on support, mental health that they might need, or also knowledge on court cases of the individuals who had killed their children. And when Joe Biden came into the office, he closed down that VOICEs office, completely shuttered it because that office also tracked how many victims there really were in the country that had been affected by illegal alien crimes.

(56:13)
So when I came in, I didn't have any data set to use because Joe Biden and his administration had completely quit keeping track of the amount of victims here. We're grateful that they're here today. We're grateful that the VOICEs office is back open again and that these families now can know where their children's killers are. They can follow that and they can make sure that they hold people accountable to not enforcing the law.

Darrell Issa (56:33):

Thank you, Madam Secretary. I yield back.

Jim Jordan (56:35):

Gentleman yields back. The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from New York.

Jerry Nadler (56:39):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary Noem, we have seen a consistent pattern of lies and deceit from the Department of Homeland Security under your leadership. I'm not just talking about the false claims that you and others at DHS have spread in attempting to smear Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and other victims of ICE's deadly tactics, all of which are well known. I'm talking about the dishonesty and deception that has become commonplace throughout your agency.

(57:05)
One of the most brazen incidents occurred last week at Columbia University where five DHS agents conned their way into a university-owned department building at 6:00 AM. They were pretending to be police officers searching for a missing child, but this was nothing more than a ruse to gain access to the apartment of a student originally from Azerbaijan, Ellie Aghayeva, a senior studying neuroscience and politics. A public security officer on the scene asked for a warrant, but none was produced and they proceeded to arrest Ellie.

(57:39)
It is black-letter law that a government agent cannot lie about searching for a missing child to gain entry to a residence. It's literally the example they give in the criminal procedure textbook, but your agents deliberately misrepresented themselves to gain access to Ellie's apartment. Fortunately, hours after Ellie was taken into custody, following a public outcry and a meeting with Mayor Mamdani, President Trump intervened and secured her release. If Ellie had been among the worst of the worst that you claim to target, surely the president would not have pushed for her release.

(58:14)
But this is just one example of an out-of-control department under your leadership. My own office was the victim of your agents' deceptive tactics last year when DHS agents entered my office under false pretenses, claiming that my staff was, quote, "harboring rioters" when video clearly showed this was not the case. A statement issued by DHS claimed the agents were doing a, quote, "security check." And yet, the video that has been released shows them handcuffing a staffer, demanding access to non-public areas of my office without a warrant, denying that they even needed a warrant when challenged by a member of my staff, and never once asking about the safety and security of my staff. More lies.

(58:55)
Although both of these incidents were traumatic for those involved, at least everyone is alive and well. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Nurul Amin Shah Alam. An elderly, nearly blind refugee from Burma living in Buffalo. Two weeks ago, he was left abandoned by US Customs and Border Patrol agents outside of Tim Horton's coffee shop an hour after they closed, in the cold and in the dark, with no shoes on, miles away from his home. Five days later, he was found dead. Mr. Shah Alam escaped a genocide in his home country just to die here because Border Patrol could not be bothered to take him home or to tell his family where they had released him.

(59:34)
When the story came out in the press, DHS claimed that they had dropped Mr. Shah Alam at a, quote, "warm, safe location near his last known address." Your agents also claim Mr. Shah Alam showed, "No signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance." These were obvious lies. The coffee shop was closed. It wasn't safe and warm. He was nearly blind. He required special assistance, but your agents callously left him to defend for himself, with deadly consequences. This is a clear case of your officers failing to fulfill the basic duty of care, and as a result, this man is dead.

(01:00:14)
So Secretary Noem, I want to know if there will be any accountability for the incidents I have described today. Will the agents who lied at Columbia face discipline, or the officers who forced their way into my office? What about the officers in Buffalo who abandoned a barefoot blind refugee in the middle of a freezing night miles away from his home? Will any of them face accountability?

Kristi Noem (01:00:36):

Well, sir, you talk about several different specific cases. What I would say is some of your facts are wrong on some of those cases, but also that they are all being reviewed. We do have a review process in the ICE agency within that department-

Jerry Nadler (01:00:50):

It sounds like you-

Kristi Noem (01:00:51):

... that goes through and does an OPR, which is the Office of Professional Responsibility, make sure that all protocols were followed in every single case.

Jerry Nadler (01:00:59):

We know that in the-

Kristi Noem (01:01:01):

In the case of the Columbia student-

Jerry Nadler (01:01:02):

Reclaiming my time, we know that in the cases of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, proper protocols were not followed.

(01:01:11)
Now, Erie County is currently mounting an investigation. Will you at the very least commit today that DHS will cooperate with the investigation by local authorities in New York of Mr. Shah Alam's death? Yes or no?

Kristi Noem (01:01:23):

Which case are you talking about, sir?

Jerry Nadler (01:01:24):

Shah Alam, the one who was released.

Kristi Noem (01:01:26):

We will certainly look at that, but I want you to know that the investigations-

Jerry Nadler (01:01:29):

Will you cooperate with the local authorities? Yes or no?

Kristi Noem (01:01:32):

I don't conduct the investigations that are outside within the umbrella of ICE and CBC.

Jerry Nadler (01:01:37):

I'll take that as a no.

Kristi Noem (01:01:37):

The FBI leads these investigations.

Jerry Nadler (01:01:39):

I'll take that as a no. Unfortunately, that has become a pattern we've come to expect in this administration. Secretary Noem, your agents are running amuck and you're doing nothing to hold them accountable. Everything that we are seeing, the lies-

Speaker X (01:01:51):

The chairman, regular order.

Jerry Nadler (01:01:52):

... the deaths, the cruelty that is all happening on your watch and in your name, you should be ashamed. I yield back.

Jim Jordan (01:01:59):

Gentleman yields back. Gentleman from California, Mr. McClintock, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration is recognized for five minutes.

Tom McClintock (01:02:05):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know we have a number of angel families here today whose loved ones were killed because of the open borders policies of the Democrats. Could I ask them to stand for a moment and be recognized so that we can honor their loved ones and get a sense of the human toll that four years of open borders took on our country?

Jim Jordan (01:02:24):

Thank you.

Tom McClintock (01:02:25):

God bless you all.

Jim Jordan (01:02:26):

Yeah. Thank you all.

Tom McClintock (01:02:27):

Thank you.

(01:02:29)
Madam Secretary, the Democrats told us that the only way to secure our borders was we had to grant amnesty and citizenship to the millions of illegals that they had allowed into our country. Was this true?

Kristi Noem (01:02:40):

No.

Tom McClintock (01:02:41):

And how do we know it wasn't true?

Kristi Noem (01:02:44):

Because we enforced the law and sent the message that in the United States now, our border was going to be secure and we would ensure that and it happened. People quit coming. They quit coming to that border because we told them it was closed, and we made sure that when people did cross the border that there was consequences for breaking federal law.

Tom McClintock (01:02:59):

During the Biden years, approximately how many foreign nationals illegally entered our country, either as gottaways or through the CB One app, or the catch and release policies of Biden?

Kristi Noem (01:03:10):

We don't necessarily know, Congressman. We don't necessarily know because the invasion was facilitated by the federal government during that time. And while all of our CBP agents were pulled to process people, to make sandwiches, to take care of the masses and thousands of people crossing the border, huge swaths of our border were left unsecured.

Tom McClintock (01:03:29):

So, we don't know.

Kristi Noem (01:03:29):

And the cartels took advantage of that to try to-

Tom McClintock (01:03:31):

We don't know how many millions of illegals.

Kristi Noem (01:03:33):

We do not know.

Tom McClintock (01:03:33):

We know at least 10 million because-

Kristi Noem (01:03:34):

Yes.

Tom McClintock (01:03:35):

... we watched them either cross the border or we released them under the Biden administration. But the Inspector General reported that they also approved entry visas for 13 million foreign nationals without conducting any interviews or background checks as required by law. Do we know anything about those 13 million visa approvals that were given without any kind of vetting?

Kristi Noem (01:03:56):

We don't. We're going back and tracking ones we have documentation on, but most of them are not at the addresses that they left, the context that they may have done. And all of our programs under the Department of Homeland Security were violated and abused and perverted as well.

(01:04:10)
For example, when we came in, there was 400,000 asylum cases. That was a year before we came in. He abused it so bad during that invasion that when I first got sworn in as secretary, there was a backlog of 1.5 million asylum cases. They all need to be reviewed.

Tom McClintock (01:04:27):

Do we know how many are still even in the country?

Kristi Noem (01:04:29):

No, we don't.

Tom McClintock (01:04:31):

How many criminals were allowed in?

Kristi Noem (01:04:33):

Oh, thousands. Thousands of them. We know for a fact that other countries encouraged, emptied out their prisons, their mental institutions, encouraged people to go. And those individuals who would pay a cartel member to move them across the country certainly came into our country, broke that first law, which made them a criminal. And then after that, many times.

Tom McClintock (01:04:54):

And could you tell us again just how many illegal aliens have been deported under your leadership or have been self-deported?

Kristi Noem (01:05:02):

There's been over 700,000 that have been detained and arrested and are being deported. I want to remind everybody at this committee too, that every single one of these individuals that's detained has final orders of removal. They can leave today.

Tom McClintock (01:05:18):

And by the way, how many-

Kristi Noem (01:05:18):

As soon as they get to that detention center, they have the option to go home.

Tom McClintock (01:05:20):

... that you've deported now have records of a criminal or arrests or convictions?

Kristi Noem (01:05:26):

70% of those in our detention centers have criminal records.

Tom McClintock (01:05:29):

So roughly over a half a million?

Kristi Noem (01:05:31):

Yes.

Tom McClintock (01:05:31):

So you've effectively removed more than a half a million criminal illegal aliens from our streets and sent them back to their own countries or detained them?

Kristi Noem (01:05:38):

Yes.

Tom McClintock (01:05:39):

And what's that done to our crime rate?

Kristi Noem (01:05:41):

Oh, our crime rate has been phenomenal. In fact, we have the lowest murder rate in our country that we've had since it's been recorded. Over 125 years, our murder rates are at the lowest that it is. The drug epidemic is getting better and improving. We need it to do more so we don't lose more of our children. But we specifically under ICE

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:06:00):

... as well, and HSI target human traffickers and child pedophiles and those that would perpetuate assaults against our children.

Rep. McClintock (01:06:07):

The chairman said there were 11 states refusing to enforce federal immigration law. I think it's worth noting there were also 11 states in the old Confederacy, and they too asserted the doctrine of nullification that states could ignore or nullify federal laws that they didn't like. That's fatal to a federal republic like ours. Abraham Lincoln understood that. Andrew Jackson understood that. Donald Trump understands that. It's what lit the fuse for the Civil War. How do these sanctuary states thwart enforcement of our federal immigration laws?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:06:36):

They don't cooperate with us. They don't share background information or arrest information or when they're releasing someone from their prisons or jails. They turn them on the streets and then when we are out doing enforcement actions, they don't help us with security. Many of these local officials, driven by political leaders, governors or mayors, don't come when we respond, when we ask for backup for our law enforcement as well.

Rep. McClintock (01:06:58):

What's the purpose of these so called sanctuary cities and states? Are they protecting all illegal aliens or only those illegal aliens that have been arrested for other crimes?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:07:08):

Well, I would say they're protecting them all. They're allowing them to stay on their programs and to live in their housing and facilitate it and to be on benefits programs that take taxpayer dollars out of their communities, away from American citizens, and facilitate a way of life for people that didn't follow our legal process. I know that they're very concerned. The Democrat party's very concerned about illegal aliens in this country. I will tell you, as a Secretary of Homeland Security, it's my job to get up every day to be concerned for American citizens.

Rep. McClintock (01:07:35):

Well, thank you.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:07:36):

They are my priority.

Rep. McClintock (01:07:37):

Thank you for the job you're doing.

Rep. Jordan (01:07:39):

Gentleman yields back. Mr. Coleman, I should have said this earlier, if you need any help or a little break, want to go in the back room with Delilah, that's fine. I see Delilah decided to take a nap. Let the record show I think she fell asleep during Mr. Nadler's questions, and not Mr. McClintock. The chair now recognizes the gentlelady from California.

Rep. Lofgren (01:07:58):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Secretary Noem, for being here with us this morning. There's an old adage that states, "There are no bad dogs, just bad owners." And one of the questions we have is, are there bad agencies or just bad owners and bad leadership? So I have a concern about much of what's happened in the enforcement region internally in the United States. And I'd like to show a video, the video number one, if the staff could play that.

Video (01:08:31):

[inaudible 01:08:43].

Rep. Lofgren (01:08:50):

Now, this was in January. ICE agents forced their way into the home of a United States citizen, Mr. Scott Thao, without a warrant. As you could see from the video, they pulled him into subfreezing temperatures in his underwear, held him for a number of hours and finally released him. The Fourth Amendment says the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated. And provides for a warrant requirement to enter a person's home.

(01:09:32)
Now, that was bad leadership in my judgment because... Not on your part... the attorney general has issued a memorandum asserting, I think, incorrectly, I mean, obviously incorrectly, that no warrant is required to break into somebody's house, contrary to what the Fourth Amendment provides, and that an administrative warrant, which is basically, note to self, go ahead and break into anybody's house you want, is what's sufficient.

(01:10:08)
So my question really is not about the illegal breaking and entering into that US citizen's house, but what is the policy about taking an old man in his underwear out of a house in subfreezing temperatures? Do you train agents not to do that or are they trained to do that?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:10:32):

Well, all of our law enforcement officers go through extensive training. Our ICE officers go through 58 days of training and 60 or... 56 days of training. They have 28 of those on the job.

Rep. Lofgren (01:10:43):

Okay, so-

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:10:44):

But beyond that, they are trained in constitutional law, which you referenced. So they all know exactly [inaudible 01:10:49]-

Rep. Lofgren (01:10:49):

The question was about man-handling an old man in subfreezing weather.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:10:54):

... that is they are trained in those situations.

Rep. Lofgren (01:10:54):

So they're trained to do that?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:10:55):

They're trained in how to interdict someone to detain them and to take them-

Rep. Lofgren (01:10:59):

This man had done nothing. Let me show you another video. Show another video.

Video (01:11:05):

Whoa.

(01:11:05)
Get out of the car. Go.

(01:11:05)
Get out. Get out.

(01:11:05)
Go, go, go, drive.

(01:11:05)
Get the fuck out.

(01:11:05)
[inaudible 01:11:27].

(01:11:05)
Get back, get back.

(01:11:05)
Get the fuck out.

Rep. Lofgren (01:11:37):

So this disabled woman, she's a US citizen, Ms. Rahman. She wasn't protesting anything. She was on her way to a doctor's appointment. She has a traumatic brain injury. And as you can see from the video, your agents surrounded her car. They pointed their weapons at her. They broke her window and they dragged her from the car. Let me show you another video.

Video (01:12:06):

Oh, what the fuck?

(01:12:06)
Oh, what?

(01:12:06)
Got some crazy. I got no heart for real. No heart. No heart.

(01:12:10)
Get off. Get off.

Rep. Lofgren (01:12:14):

Now, in this video, masked agents blocked the road with their SUV and used it to hit an American citizen driving in the right lane on her way to work, after dropping off her child. As you can see, they drew their weapons. They drug her into the street to arrest her. She didn't know they were federal law enforcement because they were wearing masks. So the question I have is, are agents trained to break the windows of people whose cars they encounter and drag them out forcibly without asking questions? Is that their training?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:12:49):

Congresswoman, our officers are all trained for situations to where they're interacting with the public and where they are detaining someone or arresting them. What I would say is they always goes with their presence is when the enforcement action begins, the officer's presence and then verbal commands. If an individual doesn't respond to verbal commands, then they go to soft techniques, which you see utilized throughout the country. And our officers follow that protocol and are trained in that protocol. You talked earlier about administrative warrants. Administrative warrants are the tools that you gave us. Congress gave us that tool in immigration law to use to go and detain individuals who are in this country that have had final removal orders. And also what I would say-

Rep. Lofgren (01:13:30):

I will just note that is garbage law. The Constitution trumps-

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:13:33):

The Supreme Court backed it up.

Rep. Lofgren (01:13:34):

You're incorrect.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:13:35):

The Supreme Court affirmed it.

Rep. Lofgren (01:13:36):

There's a long line of cases, Mr. Chairman.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:13:37):

It's the only tool we have, ma'am.

Rep. Lofgren (01:13:38):

The real lawyers on this committee know that the Fourth Amendment-

Rep. Jordan (01:13:43):

You can describe it how you want, but it is the law.

Rep. Lofgren (01:13:45):

... required for in [inaudible 01:13:45] requirement.

Rep. Jordan (01:13:45):

It is federal law. The gentlelady's time has expired. The chair is now recognized-

Rep. Raskin (01:13:50):

Mr. Chairman, can I just do a UC request?

Rep. Jordan (01:13:51):

Gentleman is recognized for unanimous consent.

Rep. Raskin (01:13:52):

This comes from The Guardian, "Worst of the worst, most US immigrants targeted for deportation in 2025, 73% had no criminal charges, documents reveal."

Rep. Jordan (01:14:02):

Without objection, Chair's now recognized. Madam Secretary, how many detainers in 2025 did ICE issue to local law enforcement?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:14:12):

It was 201,340.

Rep. Jordan (01:14:17):

And I just want to be clear. That means over 200,000 individuals are in the country illegally. You have a notice, final order to remove those individuals. They've been charged with an additional crime, some other crime, harming kids, stealing stuff, armed robbery, maybe even something worse. They're in a jail or detention center and you send a notice, a detainer notice, to that jail or detention center saying, "If you're going to release this individual, give us a heads-up so we can come apprehend him at the jail." Is that all accurate?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:14:50):

That is accurate, yes.

Rep. Jordan (01:14:50):

Okay. Now, and in 68.5% of the country will work with you on that. Most of the country, two-thirds of the country. But a third of the country won't because they're run by left wing crazy elected officials. And they say, "No, no, no, no. We're not going to work with ICE." So how many times, in the same time period, how many times last year, 2025, were your detainers not honored?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:15:16):

17,864 detainers were declined.

Rep. Jordan (01:15:21):

Declined. And now some of them, they may have declined early, but many of those people are out on the street. Is that fair to say?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:15:27):

That's correct.

Rep. Jordan (01:15:28):

So in these jurisdiction, they say, "We don't care that federal law says there's a final order of removal for this individual, and we don't care that this person's been charged with an additional crime. We are going to turn them out on the street, release this individual out on the street and make you send six agents, 12 agents, whatever, to get the bad guy on the street when you could have sent one to the jail and just made it easy." Is that right?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:15:49):

That is correct.

Rep. Jordan (01:15:50):

And let me just ask this, is that the dumbest thing you've ever heard?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:15:52):

It is the dumb... Well, I've heard a lot of dumb things in this job, but that is one of them, yes.

Rep. Jordan (01:15:55):

Well, that's it, I've heard a lot of dumb things from the left as well, but that is certainly near the top, right? Now here's what's interesting. They don't want it just to remain one-third of the country, they want it to apply everywhere. And you know how we know that? One month ago today, Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Leader Schumer sent a letter to Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune. And in that letter, they have 10 demands that they want. That's why they shut down the government, they're saying. One of the reasons they shut down the government is they want that policy, which only applies to 31% of the country right now to apply nationwide.

(01:16:27)
And I just want to read it because it's point number four in their letter one month ago, "Protect sensitive locations, prohibit funds from being used to conduct enforcement near these sensitive locations." So after they release them, they don't want you to be able to arrest the guy who may have been charged with abusing kids, who wasn't the detainer wasn't honored, who's released to the street. They don't want you to arrest him near medical facilities, schools, childcare facilities. So if he's hanging out near a childcare facility and he's been charged with abusing kids and he's here illegally, or a school, you're not supposed to get him there, according to what Leader Jeffries and Leader Schumer said. And I'll ask you the same question. Is that the dumbest thing you've ever heard?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:17:09):

Yes. That is one way to encourage criminals to congregate where children are, is to say that a school would be a safe zone.

Rep. Jordan (01:17:15):

And what happens when they don't honor detainers? They release bad guys who were supposed to, according to federal law, be turned over to ICE and you're supposed to remove them, they release them. What happens is, exactly what I talked about in our opening statement, you have guys like this Ortiz fellow right next door in Fairfax County, Virginia, who was here illegally. You all sent a detainer and they said last September, "Nope, we're not going to honor it." They released him to the streets and he killed someone, when it could have been easy. Someone would still be alive today. And as I said before, it'd be one less angel family in this country if they would simply do the common sense thing. But no, they want to expand it and they want to put back in this protected areas..

(01:18:03)
Here's the other thing that's interesting. They all defend what happened in Minneapolis when all the protestors and rioters or whatever you want to call them went into the church. So they're allowed to go into the church and somehow that's fine. They can disrupt the church service, but you're not allowed to go at or near a church to arrest a bad guy who's been charged with another crime and released to the street. Again, unbelievably stupid.

(01:18:26)
And that is why tomorrow the House Judiciary Committee is going to mark up the sanctuary shutdown act of 2026. And hopefully we can pass that, get it to the Senate, pass it, and get President Trump to sign it, because it is the right thing to do. And anyone with common sense understands that. I apologize. I went too long. I'll give you the last 20 seconds.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:18:48):

No, I just appreciate that. And I agree with you wholeheartedly that a lot of what comes at us for criticisms is simply not truth every day. And it's interesting, Chairman, as you were talking, I was thinking about the last committee hearing I was at just a couple of months ago in December, that all the Democrats held up pictures of illegal aliens and were defending illegal aliens and talking about them. Now today, they're defending citizens because they know they shouldn't be putting illegal aliens in front of citizens. They've changed their method. Now they realize that when they're fighting for people who shouldn't be in this country to begin with, that that's a losing statement with the American people. That common sense would tell you somebody who lives here that is a citizen should be prioritized over someone from another country. That's common sense.

Rep. Jordan (01:19:29):

But Madam Secretary, they're not only fighting for people here illegally, they're releasing the bad guys to the streets, for goodness' sake.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:19:36):

They are.

Rep. Jordan (01:19:36):

That is the problem. With that, I now recognize the ranking member for five minutes.

Rep. Raskin (01:19:40):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're fighting for American citizens, Madam Secretary-

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:19:44):

Today you are. You were-

Rep. Raskin (01:19:45):

... because your ICE agents shot them in the face and killed them. And each person you see up on this dais today represents 800,000 American citizens, and you should know that as a former member of Congress.

(01:19:57)
Now, her brother said that Renee Good was someone who could make you believe things were going to be okay despite all the hardship because she chose optimism. Alex Pretti was a boy scout, a choir member, an outdoorsman from Green Bay who lavished attention on his beloved dog, Jewel. His sister called her brother someone would wave lighting up every room that he walked into. But only a few hours after they were gunned down by your agents, you called Renee a domestic terrorist. You said Alex committed an act of domestic terrorism. Alex's parents responded to your calling their son a domestic terrorist. They said, "The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting."

(01:20:51)
Now I want to give you a chance before the entire country to correct your false and defamatory claim. Based on what you know today, Madam Secretary, were Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:21:09):

Congressman, what happened in Minnesota in those two incidents was an absolute tragedy. And I offer-

Rep. Raskin (01:21:14):

Were they domestic terrorists as you said to the country?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:21:17):

... my condolences to their families. Because I know that their lives will never be the same after that happened.

Rep. Raskin (01:21:22):

Is that an apology for what you said?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:21:24):

We, in those instances, offer as much information as we can from officers and agents on the ground in a chaotic scene that gets [inaudible 01:21:32]-

Rep. Raskin (01:21:32):

I'll repeat my question. Reclaiming my time. Based on what you know today, Madam Secretary, based on what you know today, were Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:21:44):

As you know, there's ongoing investigations that are being led by the FBI-

Rep. Raskin (01:21:48):

Oh, but you didn't wait for the investigation, did you? You didn't wait for the evidence. You proclaimed that they were domestic terrorists at the time. Why did you do that?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:21:55):

And you didn't wait to attack our law enforcement officers-

Rep. Raskin (01:21:57):

Why did you do that?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:21:57):

... for going into a dangerous situation.

Rep. Raskin (01:21:59):

Why did you call them domestic terrorists?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:22:01):

[inaudible 01:22:01] because our ICE officers and our HSI officers that day risked their lives to protect that scene so evidence could be reclaimed. So it could be used in the investigation because those violent rioters that were there would have-

Rep. Raskin (01:22:11):

So you're proud of the fact that you called them domestic terrorists? Is that what you're telling America?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:22:15):

... [inaudible 01:22:15] HSI officers put their lives on the line to protect that scene, so evidence, so we could have-

Rep. Raskin (01:22:19):

Yes, they do. Yes, they do.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:22:20):

... a thorough and accurate investigation.

Rep. Raskin (01:22:20):

But you told a lie about them. You said that they were domestic terrorists. Do you regret that?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:22:26):

I offer my condolences to those family and again [inaudible 01:22:29]-

Rep. Raskin (01:22:28):

Based on what you know today, were Renee Good and Alex Pretti domestic terrorists?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:22:33):

There's ongoing investigations and so I cannot [inaudible 01:22:35]-

Rep. Raskin (01:22:35):

So you still don't know. You think that's an open question?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:22:37):

I would think you would want there to still be investigations going into these situations. [inaudible 01:22:41]-

Rep. Raskin (01:22:41):

Well, you stated the conclusion two hours after they were killed that they were domestic terrorists. I wanted to give you an opportunity to correct the record, not just for their family, but for everybody in America who believes in the truth and fairness and honesty.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:22:54):

In every situation, as facts come out, we relay [inaudible 01:22:57]-

Rep. Raskin (01:22:57):

You know, your acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, came before Congress. He said he had no knowledge whatsoever that Alex Pretti and Renee Good were domestic terrorists, none. This is your guy. He said that. He admitted that that was wrong. Why won't you admit it?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:23:12):

I'll tell you the investigation's still ongoing and we'll-

Rep. Raskin (01:23:15):

So do you regret speaking before the investigation?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:23:18):

I would say that in those situations-

Rep. Raskin (01:23:20):

You regret that?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:23:21):

... and the chaotic scene on the ground, we relay information to the American people that they're asking for. And as the things change, situations change, we [inaudible 01:23:28]-

Rep. Raskin (01:23:28):

People were asking you whether they were domestic terrorists? And you decided that they were, before the investigation?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:23:34):

As we learn more, we can [inaudible 01:23:35]-

Rep. Raskin (01:23:35):

You don't want to say anything to their families?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:23:37):

I did. I said condolences.

Rep. Raskin (01:23:39):

For what? How about an apology for what you said about their loved ones?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:23:44):

My heart is with them and we will continue to stand with them as they get a complete investigation into these situations.

Rep. Raskin (01:23:49):

All right. Well, let me ask you some questions of law if you can't handle the facts. Very simple questions of law, not trick questions. Is it lawful for federal agents to shoot and kill a person for engaging in peaceful protest and nothing else? That's a yes or no question.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:24:06):

I would say each instance is... In peaceful protests, no, it's not. But I would say-

Rep. Raskin (01:24:09):

Okay good. Is it lawful for federal agents to shoot and kill a person for filming them on a public street? Yes or no?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:24:14):

No.

Rep. Raskin (01:24:15):

Okay. Is it lawful for federal agents to shoot and kill a person just because that person is lawfully carrying a holstered firearm under the Second Amendment and state law?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:24:23):

No.

Rep. Raskin (01:24:24):

And finally, yes or no, is it lawful for federal agents to shoot an innocent person or even a criminal suspect just for driving away from them according to the Supreme Court?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:24:33):

No.

Rep. Raskin (01:24:33):

Okay. Well, I'm glad you got the law right, and I hope you would rethink what you said about two good, honest, faithful American citizens, and what that means to their families when you say that as secretary of Homeland Security. And your ICE guy has already retracted that and you should retract it too. I yield back to you, Mr. Chairman.

Rep. Jordan (01:24:56):

Gentlemen yields back. The gentlemen from Arizona is recognized for five minutes.

Rep. Biggs (01:24:59):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Secretary Noem, for being here today. Also, I want to acknowledge the angel families. There are very few jurisdictions that don't have angel families. Very, very few. Thank you for your courage and your willingness to be here today.

(01:25:18)
I am grateful that the ranking member at least knows, Secretary Noem, that under your jurisdiction, there's the Coast Guard, there's FEMA, and a whole host of other agencies, TSA being one. He listed some of them. He's chosen not to fund them. How outrageous is that? How outrageous? So Secretary Noem, before I turn to my questions, I want to establish the insanity of what sanctuary jurisdictions are doing and why it matters. And by the way, I'll just say, Mr. Chairman, on the CDL issue, I have a Bill 7200. I'd love to bring that in because it would require states do E-verify before they grant a CDL. We might save some more lives.

(01:26:04)
Let's start with ICE immigration detainers. From October 2022 through February 2025, state and local jails declined more than 25,000 ICE detainers. In more than 1,400 additional cases, they failed to provide proper notice before releasing an alien from custody. That's not symbolic resistance, that's operational non-cooperation. It undermines federal law. It increases the risk to law enforcement. It increases the risk to the person arrested even. And it results in the release of removable criminal aliens back into American communities.

(01:26:40)
This administration, the Trump administration, the Noem administration, is enforcing the tools Congress provided. We expect cooperation, not obstruction. The consequences are not hypothetical. ICE data from FY2025 shows that sanctuary jurisdictions released offenders with homicide charges or convictions. And I'm going to highlight just several examples. Rami Jalal Naisan, an Iraqi national with 28 arrests. Chicago ignored three ICE detainers. 15 of his arrests occurred after the first detainer was issued. Valdimar [inaudible 01:27:16], a Polish national convicted of attempted murder after stabbing his wife and daughter, was released despite an ICE detainer. Alexander Pasquale Pedro, arrested for aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a child, released despite a detainer. Later convicted of solicitation to meet a child, and then arrested again for domestic violence. Ismael Gomez-Urzua, deported four times. Three detainers ignored, despite arrest for narcotics, fleeing police and weapons violations. Denis Humberto Navarrete Romero, an illegal immigrant, was arrested for many crimes but released into the community repeatedly. He went on to allegedly rape a woman on a trail in Fairfax County. Abraham Gonzalez, a Venezuelan gang member, was arrested in Denver for aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft and felony menacing. Denver gave ICE only one hour's notice before forcing officers to arrest him in a public parking lot where an officer was assaulted.

(01:28:11)
Those aren't policy disagreements. Those are public safety failures, a willful desire to hold the community or put the community in danger. Beyond those individual cases, we've seen tragic losses around this country, not just of the angel families here today, but Laken Riley killed by a Venezuelan national unlawfully present in the US. Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother in Maryland, raped and killed by an illegal alien from El Salvador, later convicted of first degree murder. Jocelyn Nungaray, 12-year-old girl in Houston, sexually assaulted and murdered by two Venezuelan nationals, unlawfully present in the US. They have been charged with capital murder. And we could go on and on. So, Madam Secretary, what is the value of an ICE detainer and why is it such an important public safety tool?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:29:02):

Well, a detainer that we would lodge with a local law enforcement jurisdiction lets them know that when they are going to release that individual out to the public, that we would like to take custody of that. When we have detainers that are honored, we can go into a courthouse, we can go into a jail or a prison, and in a safe environment, take custody of that individual, take them to a detention center and remove them to their home country. When they don't honor our detainers, that individual's released out into the streets. And what we know for a fact is hundreds and hundreds of times, thousands of times across the country, those individuals re-offend. And what they're doing by not honoring detainers is creating more victims.

Rep. Biggs (01:29:37):

When ICE issues a detainer, you're not asking local officers to conduct immigration sweeps in neighborhoods. You're requesting simply notice before release or a brief lawful hold so you can assume custody, right?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:29:50):

That is correct.

Rep. Biggs (01:29:51):

If ICE is requesting a short hold, that means that the individual's already in state or local custody.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:29:56):

Correct.

Rep. Biggs (01:29:57):

And individuals in jail are there because there was probable cause for arrest and in many cases because they've been convicted of crimes, right?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:30:03):

Correct.

Rep. Biggs (01:30:04):

And so when these sanctuaries policies are enacted, they put the community at harm, they put your agents at risk, and even the perpetrator at risk. And Mr. Chairman, I'll yield back but I request... I have some UC requests.

Rep. Jordan (01:30:19):

Gentleman's recognized for UC.

Rep. Biggs (01:30:19):

Thank you. "Radical rhetoric by sanctuary politicians leads to an unprecedented 1,300% increase in assaults against ICE officers and a 3,200% increase in particular attacks."

Rep. Jordan (01:30:34):

No objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:30:35):

"Which sanctuary jurisdictions have released the most criminals?"

Rep. Jordan (01:30:38):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:30:39):

"Virginia Governor Spanberger faces blowback after releasing illegal immigrant who stabbed a woman to death."

Rep. Jordan (01:30:44):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:30:44):

"Spanberger urged to cooperate with ICE after alleged killing by illegal immigrant."

Rep. Jordan (01:30:49):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:30:49):

"Sanctuary cities pose an unacceptable risk to public safety."

Rep. Jordan (01:30:53):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:30:54):

"When did safety become a license to defy the law? The dangers of sanctuary cities."

Rep. Jordan (01:30:58):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:30:59):

"The DHS shutdown, a reckless gamble verging on madness."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:03):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:04):

"Can we finally agree that sanctuary cities are a failed experiment?"

Rep. Jordan (01:31:07):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:08):

"The not so fine line between sanctuary and threat."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:11):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:12):

"DHS funding remains in limbo as GOP lawmakers warn of retaliatory terror attacks."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:17):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:18):

"Democrat Rep whines about DHS harassing illegal alien he brought to State of the Union."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:25):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:25):

"New Maryland bill means more victims of migrant criminals, DHS warns."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:29):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:30):

"If you're an illegal, stabbing someone isn't enough for this country to lock you up."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:34):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:35):

"Coast Guard addresses recent media reporting."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:37):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:38):

"Current shutdowns impact on immigration agencies from DHS."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:42):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:43):

"US ICE, examples of egregious criminal aliens released into Illinois."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:49):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:51):

The Independent, "Police arrest and charge Rafeal Govea Romero."

Rep. Jordan (01:31:55):

Without objection. I think the gentleman may set a record here.

Rep. Biggs (01:31:58):

Yeah.

Rep. Raskin (01:31:59):

He has set a record.

Rep. Biggs (01:32:00):

February 18th, 2026, "Response to Representative Gosar's letter from Secretary Noem."

Rep. Jordan (01:32:05):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:32:06):

Another response from Secretary Noem dated February 4th, 2026 to Gosar.

Rep. Jordan (01:32:12):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:32:13):

And also, finally, "DHS OIG highlights covert testing of TSA's checkpoint security screening effectiveness."

Rep. Jordan (01:32:20):

Without objection.

Rep. Biggs (01:32:21):

Thank you. Yield back.

Rep. Jordan (01:32:21):

Gentleman, yields back. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.

Rep. Cohen (01:32:24):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Madam Secretary, welcome to the committee.

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:32:27):

Thank you.

Rep. Cohen (01:32:27):

Gives me an opportunity to show you the eight letters that I have sent to you over the last year, only one of which have been replied to. So it gives me the opportunity to ask you the questions and try to get an answer.

(01:32:38)
One of the things you're most famous for, probably your quote of quotes, is we're going to go after the worst of the worst. The murderers, the pedophiles, the rapists, et cetera. In my letters, I said I agree with you on those things. People who are in this country illegally or not citizens who commit those crimes should be deported. But the facts show that most of the people that you have stopped and tried to deport have not committed any of those crimes. In fact, they've committed no crimes at all. I've got a study here from the Justice Department, that shows that undocumented immigrants are half as likely as US-born Americans to be arrested for homicide. And the pattern holds for assault, sexual assault, robbery, burglary, theft, and arson. And they're half as likely to be arrested for drug offenses. That's an NIJ study. In Tennessee, there was a study that was just in the Commercial Appeal, our local newspaper in Memphis, that shows the same, that they are very unlikely to commit offenses. For the folks that are here and your families, I'm sorry. It's terrible what happened to your children or your family members. But they are more likely, and citizens are more likely to be attacked by United States citizens who are not undocumented, who came here and are born here. They are more likely to commit these crimes. So why do you continue to talk about the worst and the worst when all the statistics show we're not stopping the worst and the worst. We're doing what Stephen Miller wants to do and set a record of deportations?

Secretary Kristi Noem (01:34:11):