The United States Senate confirmed Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security this Saturday in the new administration of President Donald Trumpwhere he will be in charge of immigration policy.
Noem’s appointment was endorsed with 59 votes in favor and 34 against, becoming the fourth member of Trump’s cabinet confirmed by the Senate.
“One of my top priorities is to fulfill President Trump’s mandate, the American people’s, to protect our southern border and fix our broken immigration system,” Noem said in a statement.
The new secretary served as the Republican governor of South Dakota and was suggested as a possible Trump vice president, but her options evaporated after she confessed that she had shot and killed a puppy because she considered it “untrainable.”
Guatemalan migrants disembarking from a US military plane after being deported. Photo:AFP
Kristi Noem replaces Alejandro Mayorkas at the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is responsible for public safety, border security, immigration, the fight against terrorism, and disaster management and prevention.
Noem takes office on Trump’s promise to carry out deportation of the millions of undocumented migrants residing in the United States.
In his first days in office, The Trump Administration has signed a series of executive orders with the aim of accelerating the deportation process, ending access to asylum and militarizing the border with Mexico.
In addition to Noem, the Senate, with a Republican majority, has so far confirmed Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, John Ratcliffe as CIA Director and Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
Migrants remain stranded at the border port of El Chaparral, in Tijuana (Mexico). Photo:EFE
The latter is the appointment that has generated the most controversy due to his lack of military experience and the accusations against him of abuse.
The result of the vote to confirm Hegseth was 50 to 50, and the country’s vice president, JD Vance, had to vote in favor to resolve the tie.
