Trump fires Homeland Security Secretary Noem after mounting criticism

President Donald Trump on Thursday fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, after mounting criticism over her leadership of the department, including the handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.

Trump said he would nominate Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin in her place and make Noem a “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” a new security initiative that he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.

Some of the most important immigrant organizations in the U.S. quickly welcomed Noem’s departure as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security but said they did not see her replacement by Sen. Markwayne Mullin as a radical change.

“Keeping communities safe - including those of our immigrant and refugee neighbors - are what should be most important to any government official,” said Beth Oppenheim, CEO of HIAS, one of the oldest refugee organizations in the U.S.

“We call on all leaders in this administration - including the incoming Secretary - to lead with the utmost respect and dignity for the most vulnerable across our country.”

Everett Kelley said in a statement that the American Federation of Government Employees “was among the first to call for the removal of Noem on Jan. 26, two days after our union brother Alex Pretti was killed in Minneapolis.”

Pretti, 37, was an intensive care unit nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis.

“Accountability matters, and this action was long overdue,” Kelley said. “Secretary Noem’s tenure was a disaster for the men and women of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.”

In what may have been a preview of Noem’s new assignment, her longtime aide, Corey Lewandowski, accompanied Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday for a meeting with 17 defense officials from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The event, held at the U.S. Southern Command in Miami, focused on efforts to combat drug cartels in the region.

Most officials were part of the delegations attending Trump’s Shield of the Americas summit taking place this weekend at Trump’s nearby golf course.

Some immigration advocacy groups are welcoming Noem’s firing but also cautioning that more changes are needed.

In a statement the Los Angeles-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights said her departure is “long overdue.”

“For immigrant communities across the country, her leadership represented a dangerous escalation of policies that treated families and workers as targets rather than as human beings,” the group said.

But they cautioned that removing her was only the first step and said the next secretary must ensure that agencies within DHS treat immigrants with “basic human respect.”

America’s Voice’s executive director Vanessa Cárdenas said in a statement that Noem’s tenure was “marked by cruelty” but also said that the problem wasn’t just with Noem. They said there needs to be real accountability for organizations like ICE and Border Patrol.

Mullin’s nomination will go through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

That panel is chaired by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican whom Mullin recently criticized as a “freaking snake” to a group of voters in Tulsa.

The comment came as Mullin described how Paul, who frequently defects from his own party in foreign policy, federal spending and other matters, proposes legislative measures that could tank a bigger package, such as appropriations bills and a farm bill.

“Rand Paul’s a freaking snake. And I understand completely why his neighbor did what he did. And I told him that to his face,” Mullin said, according to Oklahoma conservative talk show host David Arnett, who wrote about the remarks on his Substack.

Mullin was referring to a 2017 attack in which Paul was assaulted by a neighbor in a dispute over lawn maintenance.

Two days before Noem’s ouster, a federal judge in San Francisco ordered that the secretary could be questioned under oath in a lawsuit opposing staff cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

District Judge Susan Illston’s decision was “very unusual” said Laurie L. Levenson, law professor at Loyola Marymount University’s Loyola Law School.

“It’s an indication that the court was really frustrated because they’re not getting a straight story from the government,” Levenson said.

A coalition led by labor unions sued the Trump administration in January after it didn’t renew expiring contracts for hundreds of term-limited disaster employees.

The White House press secretary says the administration will work with the Senate to confirm Mullin to replace Noem “as quickly as possible.”

Karoline Leavitt said Mullin was “extraordinarily qualified” for the post. She added that Trump was “grateful” to Noem for “helping usher in the most secure border in American history.”

“President Trump’s immigration agenda is keeping our borders secure and deporting illegal alien criminals from our country, and it will continue without interruption,” Leavitt said in a post on X.

An attorney for Marimar Martinez, a Chicago woman who was shot five times by a federal agent, said he was pleased to see accountability for government officials who “push out false narratives.”

“Greg Bovino, Tricia McLaughlin, and now Kristy Noem. Everyone involved in the spreading of lies about Marimar Martinez is out of their job,” said Christopher Parente, who represents Martinez.

“Now it is time for the FBI to do their job and investigate Agent Charles Exum and his Border Patrol buddies for their lies and his unlawful shooting of Ms Martinez. Justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.

Noem has faced blistering criticism from lawmakers of both parties recently about her handling of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is part of DHS.

Critics said her policy of requiring that she personally approve agency expenditures of $100,000 or more slowed billions of dollars in disaster reimbursements to states and even delayed emergency response.

“You’ve failed at FEMA,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told Noem during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week in which he lambasted her for delayed funds for Hurricane Helene recovery.

Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official who was elevated under Noem’s watch to lead immigration crackdowns in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, was one of the few who applauded Noem’s tenure on Thursday.

“She is the best Secretary I ever worked for, period. The others weren’t even close. Noem is the ultimate patriot who cared deeply about the Mean Green Team, and I am privileged to know and work for her,” Bovino wrote to the AP.

The Mean Green Team refers to the Border Patrol, whose agents wear green uniforms.

Trump removed Bovino from Minneapolis after federal authorities killed nurse Alex Pretti, an act that Bovino and Noem immediately defended and attacked Pretti as the aggressor despite video evidence that appeared to contradict them.

Trump said he is appointing Noem to serve as his “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas” as he announced her ouster from DHS.

Trump is gathering with the leaders of 11 Latin American countries for a “Shield” summit on Saturday at his golf club in Doral, Florida.

The name of the gathering is supposed to reflect Trump’s vision for U.S. national security strategy to put a greater emphasis on the Western Hemisphere, as he looks to leverage U.S. military and intelligence assets unseen in the region since the end of the Cold War.

Noem, speaking in Nashville, confirmed she will be at the summit and that Trump will announce “a big agreement” that will detail “how we’re going to go after cartels and drug trafficking in the entire Western Hemisphere.”

“Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas,” Noem wrote on X.

She added that she looked forward to working with top administration officials “to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren.”

She also said that, during her tenure, the department “delivered the MOST secure border in American history” and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had “delivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate.”

The post followed Noem making no mention of being ousted during a more than 30-minute address and question-and-answer session at a law enforcement event in Nashville.