DHS Sec. Kristi Noem Touts Trump Deportations And Border Security In Testimony To Senate

Forbes Breaking News

On Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Transcript

00:00Britt is trying to cover two different subcommittees.

00:04She will be returning, but in the meantime, has asked that I take the gavel.

00:11And fortunately, that means that I get to welcome you, but also ask the first questions.

00:18But first, we want to hear your statement.

00:22So please proceed.

00:24Yes.

00:24Well, thank you, Senator Collins.

00:26And I do want to thank Senator Britt as well for bringing this group of individuals together

00:31for this committee hearing so that we could talk about the priorities of the United States

00:35of America and what we can do to work together to secure our homeland.

00:38I do want to thank Senator Murphy as well and look forward to our conversations that we

00:42can have today and far into the future.

00:45In the first 100 days, the Trump administration has already delivered for the American people

00:50a drastic turnaround in homeland security.

00:53From the southern border to investing in our Coast Guard to cybersecurity, and we are just

00:59getting started.

01:01I'm very proud of the accomplishments that we have made so far and working with President

01:05Trump and his leadership since he took office.

01:07At the southern border, we have obtained near total control with a 95 percent decrease in

01:13daily encounters since President Trump took office.

01:15March saw the lowest number of encounters in this nation's history at less than 7,200.

01:22There were days in there where we had less than 200 encounters a day, which is absolutely

01:27remarkable.

01:28And again, that is the lowest number of encounters at the border in this nation's history.

01:33Under the previous administration, when Joe Biden was the President of the United States,

01:37U.S. Border Customs and Border Protection was at times encountering over 15,000 people per

01:44day.

01:45This astonishing turnaround is a testament to the resolve and to the leadership of President

01:49Trump to make America safe, and to the incredible work of the men and women of the Department

01:54of Homeland Security.

01:55The secure border has allowed Border Patrol to zero in on the cartels and on illicit activities

02:00that are going on.

02:01President Trump has designated six different cartels and violent criminal gangs as foreign

02:06terrorist organizations.

02:08This has allowed us to use a whole-of-government approach in how we go after drug traffickers

02:13and human traffickers.

02:14And in March, fentanyl traffic at the border fell by 54 percent compared to the previous year.

02:20We're enforcing immigration laws to identify, arrest, detain, and remove dangerous illegals

02:27from our country.

02:28We're prioritizing those who have committed crimes, aliens who are a threat to our public safety

02:33and to our national security, especially those who are affiliated with terrorist organizations

02:38such as Trende, Aragua, and MS-13.

02:41This includes those who also have final orders of removal.

02:45We've worked to enforce President Trump's America First Trade agenda through the U.S. Custom

02:50and Border Protection's enforcement.

02:52The Biden administration's policies hollowed out our economy and America's industrial base,

02:58and it shipped our jobs overseas.

03:00President Trump is changing that.

03:02His historic actions are proving that tariffs are an effective negotiating tool to address

03:06trade imbalances.

03:08And in fact, companies are reshoring jobs here every single day.

03:12The Department of Homeland Security is reforming, and we're rethinking federal involvement in

03:16emergency management.

03:18President Trump recently announced that there will be a FEMA review council, which I will co-chair

03:22with the Department of Defense secretary.

03:25This council is charged with fixing a broken system that's returning power to state and

03:30emergency management directors and making America safe.

03:34We're also taking steps to defend the nation's transportation systems, which are vulnerable to

03:39targets and to attacks.

03:41The Transportation Security Administration is responsible for ensuring the security of all

03:45those who travel.

03:46In a single day, there are over 45,000 flights in this country, with nearly 2.9 million passengers

03:53in the United States.

03:54We're fulfilling our obligation to launch Real ID, which happened yesterday, and we follow

03:59federal law, as it was passed 20 years ago.

04:03Validated IDs will secure travel, safeguard our elections, and make sure that we never open

04:09a door to an opportunity for another tragedy like 9-11 again.

04:13As technology advances, so do the threats to our nation.

04:16And that's why cybersecurity is a crucial component of our security measures we're taking seriously

04:23and investing in going forward.

04:26Countries like Communist China have built the capability and the intent to infiltrate

04:30and potentially disrupt our critical infrastructure.

04:33But despite these threats, the Biden administration instead used CISA to play politics and to police

04:39speech.

04:40Under President Trump, we've been working to get CISA back on mission and make sure that they

04:44are securing our infrastructure.

04:46The Coast Guard is the only branch of the U.S. Armed Services that are under the Department

04:51of Homeland Security.

04:53It has many missions with specialized needs.

04:56And as we secure the southern border, the cartels have shifted their activities out to

05:00the maritime borders.

05:01The Coast Guard has already surpassed fiscal year 2024 drug interdiction numbers and search

05:06and rescue and illegal interdiction.

05:09Still, the Coast Guard is facing our greatest readiness challenge since World War II.

05:15With Force Design 2028, we will transform the Coast Guard to make it a more agile, capable,

05:20and responsive force.

05:22And since I took office, one of the responsibilities that I have is reforming the Secret Service.

05:27In the wake of the July 13th assassination attempt, we have needs there that I'm hoping you

05:32will consider.

05:33We've reassessed the Secret Service's needs, we've refocused recruitment away from DEI objectives,

05:39and instead focused people in on investing in the agency's zero-fail mission.

05:44These accomplishments are just a portion of what the Department of Homeland Security has

05:47achieved with President Trump's leadership in the last 100 days.

05:51And with the support of this committee, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make this

05:54department more efficient and more effective in securing our nation.

05:58I'm so grateful to the men and women of the department, and they are examples of bravery,

06:03patriotism, and dedication.

06:05It's our responsibility to continue providing them with resources, training, and equipment

06:09that they need to do their jobs.

06:11Thank you so much for your support, for the opportunity to be here, and I look forward to

06:14the discussion.

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