US homeland chief Noem to face scrutiny on immigration crackdown at Senate hearing

By Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) – U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to face tough questions over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, with funding for her department still stalled due to Democratic objections to its aggressive tactics.

Noem, appointed by the Republican president last year, also may field questions on other matters including possible threats to the United States after the U.S. attacks on Iran and reports of disorder within her department. 

The former South Dakota governor has overseen Trump’s immigration agenda, including the deployment of thousands of masked federal agents to U.S. cities, where they have swept through neighborhoods in search of possible immigration offenders and clashed with residents.

Noem is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

Trump has said mass deportations are needed after high levels of illegal immigration under his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, and has defended Noem’s job performance.

Criticism of Noem intensified after federal immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. In both fatal shootings, Noem quickly called the victims “domestic terrorists” instead of waiting for a full investigation, leading to rebukes from both Democrats and Republicans as video evidence undercut her assertions about the events.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is an agency within her department.

Democrats in Congress have refused to agree to new funding for her department without changes to immigration enforcement practices. Funding for the 260,000-employee department lapsed last month, but most of its immigration enforcement and national security operations are deemed essential and continue.

House Democrats launched an effort in January to impeach Noem, saying immigration agents under her leadership have violated the civil rights of U.S. citizens, that she had blocked congressional oversight of detention centers for migrants, and that she gave government contracts to Republican-affiliated firms and people connected to close associates of hers. 

The impeachment effort is likely to fail, with the House controlled by Republicans.

During her testimony, Noem also could face questions concerning the actions of her top adviser, longtime Trump ally Corey Lewandowski.

Citing sources, Reuters reported last week that Lewandowski entered the cockpit uninvited on a U.S. government plane last year during a flight on which he later fired the pilot because Noem’s blanket had been misplaced. Lewandowski said the facts as related by the sources were wrong but he did not respond to certain questions about the incident.

Trump’s immigration policies, once an area of strength, could now be a liability for Republicans trying to retain control of Congress in November midterm elections. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in February found that while a majority of Americans support deporting immigrants without legal status, about 60% think immigration agents have gone too far.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson; Additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Will Dunham)