Pull to refresh
Logo
Daily Brief
Following
Why Ranks Sign Up
Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem

Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas

Appears in 24 stories

Born: November 30, 1971 (age 54 years), Watertown, SD
Party: Republican Party
Previous offices: United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2025–2026), Governor of South Dakota (2019–2025), Representative, SD At-large District (2011–2019), and more
Spouse: Bryon Noem (m. 1992)
Children: Kassidy Noem, Kennedy Noem, and Booker Noem

Notable Quotes

"The ICE officer did exactly what he was taught to do." — January 7, 2026, hours after Renée Good's death

"Shutdowns have serious real world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security." — February 21, 2026

"[Harvard] has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students." — DHS statement, May 2025

Stories

Department of Homeland Security shutdown over immigration enforcement

Rule Changes

Removed as DHS Secretary on March 5, 2026; replaced by Markwayne Mullin (acting oversight of EO implementation)

The U.S. Senate passed a DHS funding bill by voice vote at 2:20 a.m. on March 27, 2026. It ends the partial shutdown that began February 14 for most agencies, but leaves out ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and most U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Updated 5 hours ago

Federal immigration surge in Minneapolis

Force in Play

Facing calls for resignation or impeachment

From December 4, 2025, to February 12, 2026, Minneapolis hosted Operation Metro Surge, the largest federal immigration enforcement operation in American history: 2,000 agents, 4,000+ arrests, two U.S. citizens fatally shot. On February 12, White House border czar Tom Homan announced the operation's conclusion, declaring Minnesota 'now less of a sanctuary state.'

Updated 2 days ago

DHS expands biometric surveillance infrastructure

New Capabilities

Heads the department awarding the contract

On May 22, ICE awarded a $25.1 million no-bid contract to Plymouth, Massachusetts firm BI2 Technologies for iris-scanning hardware and continuous access to a database of more than five million booking records. The award is roughly five times the size of the $4.5 million contract ICE signed with the same vendor eight months earlier.

Updated 2 days ago

Trump administration's standoff with Harvard

Rule Changes

Leading visa and enrollment restrictions against Harvard

Harvard has received billions in federal research funding for decades without major controversy. Now President Trump is demanding the university pay $1 billion to the government—five times what he sought months earlier—after a year of escalating threats, frozen grants, and failed negotiations. The university has refused to capitulate, and a federal judge has ruled the funding freeze unconstitutional.

Updated 3 days ago

Trump administration's Venezuelan TPS termination faces legal gauntlet

Rule Changes

Defendant in four parallel TPS litigations across multiple circuits; lower courts have found her actions exceeded statutory authority and potentially reflected racial animus; Supreme Court has granted stays allowing terminations to proceed in all cases

Venezuela received Temporary Protected Status in 2021, shielding hundreds of thousands from deportation. In January 2025, newly appointed Secretary Kristi Noem moved to terminate it—an action federal courts have blocked as exceeding her authority.

Updated 3 days ago

2026 federal spending showdown

Rule Changes

Facing calls to resign; scheduled to testify before Senate in March

A three-day partial government shutdown ended February 3 when the House passed a split funding package 217-214 and Trump signed it. The deal provides full-year appropriations for five agencies through September and extends DHS funding through February 13.

Updated 6 days ago

Federal immigration showdown in Minnesota

Force in Play

Lead defendant in multiple lawsuits; facing impeachment articles from Minnesota lawmakers; White House distancing from her inflammatory statements about Pretti

The Department of Homeland Security deployed 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis in what it calls the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. Two months in, two U.S. citizens are dead: Renee Good, 37, shot January 7, and Alexander Pretti, 37, an ICU nurse, shot January 24; DHS claims self-defense in both cases, but witness videos contradict that.

Updated 6 days ago

The 75-country immigrant visa freeze

Rule Changes

Serving since January 25, 2025

The U.S. has barred immigrants based on economic status since 1882. On January 21, 2026, the State Department suspended immigrant visa processing for 75 countries—more than a third of the world's nations—citing concerns that applicants might someday use public benefits.

Updated 7 days ago

Cold war law revived to deport campus activists

Rule Changes

Named co-defendant in AAUP v. Rubio; accused by federal judge of conspiring to violate First Amendment

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 gave the Secretary of State power to deport noncitizens whose presence threatens U.S. foreign policy. For seven decades, this Cold War-era statute gathered dust until March 8, 2025, when ICE arrested Mahmoud Khalil—a Columbia graduate student and green card holder—from his apartment for his role negotiating on behalf of pro-Palestinian protesters.

Updated May 21

Minnesota's billion-dollar welfare fraud crisis

Force in Play

Leading on-the-ground fraud investigation in Minneapolis

On January 5, 2026, Governor Tim Walz announced he would drop his bid for a third term. The reversal came just two days before a contentious January 7 House Oversight Committee hearing where Republican state lawmakers testified that Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison ignored widespread fraud and silenced whistleblowers.

Updated May 21

States sue to stop federal immigration surge

Force in Play

Facing impeachment supported by 162+ House Democrats; moderate Senator Rosen joined impeachment call; Trump says she's doing 'very good job'

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez denied Minnesota's request for a temporary restraining order against Operation Metro Surge on February 2, 2026. She cited insufficient proof of constitutional violations, though she acknowledged evidence of racial profiling and excessive force.

Updated May 20

ICE shoots American mother, ignites mass uprising

Force in Play

Defending agent, blocking state investigation

ICE agent Jonathan Ross fired three shots in 700 milliseconds, killing 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in her car on a Minneapolis street. Good was a U.S. citizen, a mother of three, standing with her wife to support neighbors during Trump's self-proclaimed "largest immigration operation ever"—2,000 federal agents deployed to Minnesota.

Updated May 20

ICE blocks congressional oversight after fatal Minneapolis shooting

Force in Play

Facing impeachment articles with 142 House Democratic co-sponsors and ultimatum from Jeffries

Three Minnesota congresswomen entered a Minneapolis ICE detention center on January 10 but were ordered out minutes later. They'd come three days after an ICE agent shot 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good in the head during what the Trump administration called the largest immigration enforcement operation ever. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem secretly signed a seven-day notice rule the day after Good's killing—a rule a federal judge had already blocked—and Judge Jia Cobb refused to block it on January 20.

Updated May 20

Federal agent kills Minneapolis woman during Trump's mass deportation campaign

Force in Play

Facing impeachment efforts after Minneapolis shooting

An ICE agent shot Renee Nicole Good through her car window on a Minneapolis street January 7, killing the 37-year-old mother instantly. Federal officials claimed self-defense, saying Good weaponized her Honda Pilot to ram agents. But video shows something different: a woman slowly backing up and pulling forward, trying to leave, before an officer fires three shots into her head. "Having seen the video myself, that is bullshit," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The shooter: Jonathan Ross, a 43-year-old deportation officer who was dragged fifty yards by a vehicle he tried to forcibly enter just six months earlier. Seventeen days later, on January 24, Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and legal gun owner. Video shows Pretti filming agents with his phone, getting pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the ground by six agents, then shot at least ten times. DHS claimed he was armed and violent. Video evidence again contradicts the official account. At least six federal prosecutors resigned in protest over how investigations were being handled—pressure to investigate victims' families rather than the shooters. On January 24, FBI agent Tracee Mergen, supervisor of the Public Corruption Squad in Minneapolis, resigned over pressure to "reclassify/discontinue the investigation" into Good's killing and focus instead on her widow Becca. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara noted that two of the city's three homicides in 2026 were committed by federal agents.

Updated May 19

The five-year journey of Trump's pandemic asylum ban

Rule Changes

Leading Trump's immigration crackdown as 8th DHS Secretary

A Trump-era rule takes effect December 31, 2025, letting immigration officials deny asylum to anyone deemed a security threat based on communicable diseases. The rule was first published in December 2020, delayed five times by Biden's DHS, and now becomes law under Trump, despite no active pandemic.

Updated May 18

Trump's expanding travel ban: from seven countries to thirty-nine

Rule Changes

Overseeing enforcement operations including 168,000+ arrests in 2025

Trump signed his first travel ban seven days into his presidency, blocking entry from seven Muslim-majority countries and igniting protests; courts blocked it within a week. After Supreme Court victories, a Biden reversal, and his return to power, Trump's December 2025 expansion restricts entry from 39 countries—affecting one in eight people worldwide and eliminating exemptions for immediate family.

Updated May 16

The tanker hunt: Trump’s Venezuela “blockade” turns into Coast Guard seizures

Force in Play

Public face of tanker actions; posted boarding footage and warned shippers

The U.S. Coast Guard is now chasing a third Venezuela-linked tanker in international waters near Venezuela—under a judicial seizure order. Two other tankers have already been stopped in the past 11 days, including one dramatic helicopter boarding that the administration amplified on social media.

Updated May 15

DHS pulls the plug on family reunification parole—a legal pathway turns into a 30-day countdown

Rule Changes

Overseeing categorical parole rollbacks under Trump’s second term

DHS just turned a promised “legal pathway” into a ticking clock. A Federal Register notice published December 15, 2025 terminates every Family Reunification Parole program tied to seven countries—and tells people already here that their parole will end on January 14, 2026.

Updated May 15

States vs. Trump’s $100,000 H–1B fee: a courtroom fight over who controls immigration policy

Rule Changes

Named defendant; DHS charged with implementing the policy

The Trump administration imposed a $100,000 fee on new H‑1B visa petitions. Now twenty states are suing to overturn that fee in federal court, calling it an illegal end-run around Congress.

Updated May 15

Chicago’s ICE crackdown hits a wall of judges

Rule Changes

Defending Trump’s aggressive immigration raids amid mounting court challenges

Federal agents flooded the Chicago area under “Operation Midway Blitz,” arresting thousands in a sweeping immigration crackdown. A little-known consent decree from an earlier ICE raid suddenly roared back to life, and a Chicago judge ordered hundreds of detainees released — until a divided appeals court slammed on the brakes.

Updated May 15

Trump turns the southern border into military ground

Force in Play

Defending harsh immigration tactics and military-heavy enforcement

Donald Trump has quietly turned long stretches of the southern border into de facto military bases. Under a new system of National Defense Areas, soldiers can stop migrants, hold them, and help prosecutors charge them as trespassers on military land.

Updated May 11

Trump’s $1 million ‘gold card’: when U.S. immigration goes pay-to-stay

Rule Changes

Backing Gold Card as a security‑vetted fast track while running Trump’s deportation machine.

Donald Trump is now literally selling a fast track to America. His Trump Gold Card program lets wealthy foreigners buy expedited U.S. residency for a $1 million "gift" to the government, plus a $15,000 processing fee. A corporate option costs $2 million per sponsored worker.

Updated May 11

Supreme Court reviews Haiti and Syria TPS terminations

Rule Changes

Defending TPS terminations she signed in 2025

Haitians have lived legally in the United States under a federal humanitarian program since the 2010 earthquake. Syrians have used the same program since their civil war began. On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court spent 80 minutes considering whether the Trump administration can revoke those protections — and whether any court can second-guess the decision.

Updated Apr 29

Trump builds selective Latin American military coalition to fight cartels and counter China

Force in Play

Appointed to newly created envoy role days after removal from DHS

The United States has not built a new military coalition in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. On March 7, President Trump gathered leaders from 12 Latin American nations at his Doral resort in Miami to launch the 'Shield of the Americas,' a framework for coordinated military and intelligence operations against drug cartels, and announced the Americas Counter-Cartel Coalition, a pledge from 17 countries to use lethal military force against transnational criminal organizations.

Updated Mar 7