Kristi Noem

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FEMA Rescue Chief Resigns in Frustration

Departure follows criticism of delayed response to Texas flooding

(Newser) - The chief of FEMA's urban search and rescue unit, Ken Pagurek, has resigned, citing mounting frustration over new bureaucratic policies imposed under the Trump administration, the New York Times reports. Pagurek, who spent more than a decade with the agency and led the search and rescue branch for...

TSA to Offer 'Tokens of Gratitude' to Service Members

Special lanes to ease travel to debut for military, families with young kids

(Newser) - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is introducing changes aimed at easing airport security lines for families and military personnel. Speaking at Tennessee's Nashville International Airport on Thursday, Noem announced the launch of "Families on the Fly," a new program that sets up dedicated TSA security lanes...

Another Big TSA Change Could Be Coming

Noem says bigger liquid containers may soon be allowed in carry-on baggage

(Newser) - Travelers weary of the familiar liquid restrictions at airport security may soon get some relief. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem hinted Wednesday at possible changes to the size of liquid containers allowed in carry-on bags for flights within the US. Speaking at the Hill Nation Summit, Noem said that...

Report: FEMA Fired Call Center Workers Day After Texas Floods

Agency failed to answer thousands of calls

(Newser) - On July 5, a day after the devastating floods in Texas, FEMA's disaster assistance line received 3,027 calls and answered 99.7% of them, according to documents seen by the New York Times . The documents show, however, that hundreds of call center workers at four companies were fired...

ProPublica Questions $80K Payment to Noem
ProPublica
Questions
$80K Payment
to Noem
longform
Jun 30, 2025 7:43 AM CDT

ProPublica Questions $80K Payment to Noem

Then-governor of South Dakota didn't disclose the income from political group

(Newser) - The investigative journalist outfit ProPublica is raising ethical questions about Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem's acceptance of political donors' money when she was governor of South Dakota. Noem personally received $80,000 in 2023 from a nonprofit that promotes her political career, reports the story. The nonprofit, called...

Work Is Underway on Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz'

Old airfield to become an immigration detention center

(Newser) - Work has begun to transform an old airfield in the Florida Everglades into an immigration detention center, nicknamed "Alligator Alcatraz." A rep for Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, an ally of President Trump who first proposed the idea , said work at the site began on Monday morning, per...

DHS's Noem Lays Out Case Against Harvard
Kristi Noem
on Harvard:
'The Law
Is Clear'
OPINION
Jun 23, 2025 8:10 AM CDT

Kristi Noem on Harvard: 'The Law Is Clear'

Harvard failed to uphold rules on foreign students, she writes in op-ed

(Newser) - One of the larger battles being fought between Harvard and the Trump administration is over the university's ability to admit foreign students , who currently make up 27% of the student body. In a Washington Post op-ed, Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem lays out the administration's case...

Kristi Noem Hospitalized After Allergic Reaction
Kristi Noem Released
From Hospital
UPDATED
Jun 18, 2025 2:52 PM CDT

Kristi Noem Released From Hospital

She suffered allergic reaction during visit to Washington, DC, military base

(Newser) - Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has been discharged from the Washington, DC-area hospital she was rushed to after suffering an allergic reaction Tuesday. A spokeswoman says Noem was released Tuesday night. Officials tell NBC News that Noem, who postponed a scheduled press conference Wednesday, had the allergic reaction when...

Democrats Are Outraged by Padilla Incident

Elizabeth Warren says Kristi Noem should resign after senator was forcibly removed from press conference

(Newser) - After Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Kristi Noem's press conference in Los Angeles and handcuffed on Thursday, his fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill were outraged. Lawmakers took to the Senate floor to denounce the way the California senator was treated and dozens of House Democrats marched to...

Senator Forcibly Removed From Noem Press Conference

DHS claims Alex Padilla 'lunged' at Noem

(Newser) - A Democratic senator from California was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday and placed in handcuffs. Video posted on X shows men restraining Sen. Alex Padilla after he interrupted the press conference, the Hill reports. Padilla, the state's senior...

Noem Gets Habeas Corpus Definition Wrong

Homeland Security secretary claims it actually allows president to suspend rights

(Newser) - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the constitutional provision that allows people to legally challenge their detention by the government is actually a tool the Trump administration can use in its broader crackdown at the US-Mexico border, the AP reports. She called habeas corpus "a constitutional right that the...

First US Charter Returns Migrants Who Volunteered

Children born in the US are among those flown to Honduras, Colombia

(Newser) - The US on Monday sent 68 immigrants from Honduras and Colombia back to their countries, the first government-funded flight of what the Trump administration is calling voluntary deportations. In the northern Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, 38 Hondurans, including 19 children, disembarked from the charter flight carrying $1,000...

Homeland Security Considers Reality Show for Citizenship

'This isn't The Hunger Games for immigrants,' says the would-be producer

(Newser) - It's a reality show pitch with the potential for dicey politics. The Department of Homeland Security is considering taking part in a reality show in which immigrants compete for US citizenship, reports the Wall Street Journal . It's "in the very beginning stages of that vetting process,"...

Acting Chief Is Out After Defending FEMA's Existence

Trump, Noem have expressed differing views

(Newser) - The day after he broke with the Trump administration line on eliminating FEMA, the agency's acting boss was fired. Cameron Hamilton, who was appointed by President Trump, was called to Department of Homeland Security headquarters on Thursday and dismissed, Politico reports. He was then driven back to his Federal...

White House Makes $1K Offer to Migrants

DHS will pay $1K to those here illegally who self-deport

(Newser) - The Trump administration says it will pay migrants in the US illegally $1,000 to return to their home country voluntarily. The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that it will also help with travel expenses, and that those who use an app called CBP Home to tell the...

2 Arrested in Connection With Theft of Noem's Purse

Prosecutor says both men are in the country illegally

(Newser) - Two men have been arrested in connection with the theft of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse Easter Sunday in the nation's capital. Mario E. Bustamante Leiva, 49, was arrested Saturday; he is a Chilean national accused of stealing Noem's handbag, which had $3,000 in cash...

Kristi Noem's Bag With $3K Cash Stolen

Homeland Security secretary also lost her passport, access badge in theft at DC restaurant

(Newser) - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem became a crime victim Sunday night, her department has confirmed. CNN reports that the former South Dakota governor's bag was stolen while she was dining at the Capital Burger restaurant in downtown Washington, DC. A law enforcement source tells CNN that the Secret Service...

Critics Decry 'Cruel' DHS Move Against 532K Immigrants

Homeland Security to revoke legal protections for Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans

(Newser) - The Department of Homeland Security said Friday it will revoke legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, setting them up for potential deportation in about a month. The order applies to about 532,000 people from the four countries who came to the United States...

'Oopsie, Too Late': Behind a New Deportation Controversy

White House denies it violated judge's ruling on Venezuelans flown out of the country

(Newser) - Sunday saw one of the most dramatic developments yet on the deportation front: President Trump invoked a rarely used law to deport Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador. The move came after a federal judge issued a ruling against the deportations and ordered that any planes carrying the immigrants out of...

DHS: We're Making Workers Take Lie Detector Tests

Homeland Security chief Noem blames agency leaks for disrupting immigration enforcement efforts

(Newser) - Staffers at the Department of Homeland Security may soon find themselves hooked up to lie-detecting sensors, if they haven't been already. Sources tell NBC News that the federal agency has begun administering polygraph tests to workers in an effort to suss out leaks to the media that some say...

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