Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced a second day of questions on Capitol Hill Wednesday.
House Judiciary Committee members grilled Noem about the aggressive and sometimes deadly actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Democrats also pointed to the massive amounts of money the department is spending on advertising and travel.
At times, lawmakers cut sharply contrasting approaches to their questioning.
“Under Secretary Noem, fentanyl coming in the country's down. Women and children are safer and most importantly, under Secretary Noem and President Trump's leadership, the border is now secure,” said committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH).
“You have actually turned the United States government against its own residents. And you have multiple chances to take accountability to apologize to these folks and others across the country. But you failed to do it,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
Noem defended her department's record, touting a significant decrease in border crossings in an increase in deportations. She was joined Wednesday by Angel families: Relatives of people killed by undocumented immigrants. She spotlighted them in her opening statements.
“Somebody has to do the right thing and tell the stories of these families, and make sure that we don't sit around here and make political pot shots on falsehoods and lies,” Noem said.
The hearing also featured U.S. citizens and their families, including the families of U.S. citizens like Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who have been killed by federal agents.
“Madam Secretary, you’ve provided no evidence to back up your defamatory lie against either of these American citizens,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said during the hearing, referencing the deaths of Good and Pretti. “There have been three homicides in Minneapolis in 2026. Your agents committed two of them. Rather than work with state and local authorities to solve these homicides, you barred Minnesota’s investigators from the crime scenes. You’re denying them access to all the evidence that you have about the deaths of their citizens. It smells like a cover-up, and it makes me wonder who the real domestic terrorists are.”
Lawmakers asked Noem to retract comments calling Good and Pretti domestic terrorists, and asked Noem to apologize to their families. Noem offered her condolences but did not take back her domestic terror comments.
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The hearing comes as the federal government remains partially shut down, affecting multiple agencies within DHS.
DHS has warned of a heightened threat environment as strikes continue in Iran, but Democrats say they won't abandon their push to reform immigration enforcement tactics.
