The nomination of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to head the Department of Homeland security has been welcomed by law and order advocates and southern border stakeholders as she prepares to meet with the Senate on Friday for her confirmation hearing.
President-elect Trump announced her as his pick on November 12, just days after defeating Vice President Harris, who was widely criticized as ineffective on border security under President Biden.
“She was the first governor to send National Guard troops to help Texas fight the Biden border crisis, and they have been sent a total of eight times,” Trump’s transition team said in a statement announcing her nomination. “She will work closely with ‘border czar’ Tom Homan to secure the border and ensure our American homeland is safe from our adversaries.”
Trump has made fighting immigrant crime a centerpiece of his campaign, an important issue for voters that Democrats have largely ignored, shrugging off congressional hearings that included testimony victims’ families as politically motivated.
TRUMP CHOOSES SOUTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR CHRISTIA NOEM TO LEAD THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem visits FOX Business Network’s “Varney & Co” at Fox Business Network Studios on May 7, 2024 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
“I think it’s a wonderful, wonderful nomination,” said Jim Chilton, an a rancher from Arizona whose estate extends at the end of one part of the boundary wall.
“Last year we had three people die on the ranch, two apparently from dehydration, one apparently killed by the cartel,” he told Fox News Digital over the phone. “One of my cowboys found his body and severed head.”
Five miles of his 50,000-acre property is protected by a wall, he said, but thousands of people have crossed his property on another half-mile left exposed by unfinished construction. In April alone, he said, more than 5,600 people crossed his property around the end of the barrier.
“The solution is to complete the wall, put border patrol on the wall, arrest anyone who tries to climb over or cut through the wall and prevent anyone from entering the United States without proper documentation,” he told Fox News Digital.
NOEM BRAGS POLICE OUTFLOW, BORDER UNION SUPPORT FOR DHS CHIEF
This photo shows migrants at the southern border encountered in Arizona. (US Border Patrol)
Cartel scouts, he said, control the altitude, patrol the mountains above his ranch and watch for Border Patrol agents, relaying information via satellite and radio to their fellow smugglers.
However, the authorities thwarted their efforts when possible.
MOM RACHEL MORIN CALLS BIDEN-HARRIS OUT FOR IGNORING FAMILY AFTER MIGRANT MURDER
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, DN.Y., is shown with his head bowed and eyes closed during congressional testimony by the mothers of murder victims whose suspected killers were illegal immigrants on September 10, 2024. (Cathie Groenewold)
“Last month, the Border Patrol arrested a group on my ranch, and they had an AK-47 and 100 pounds of cocaine,” Chilton said. – That is simply unheard of.
As for the agents themselves, they are looking forward to getting back to work under a supportive White House, according to Hector Garza, a member of the force for more than 20 years and president of National Border Patrol Council Local 2455 in Laredo.
“We are excited about the new leadership of the Border Patrol,” he told Fox News Digital. “For us as agents, it is means border security – and that also means safety.”
Under the Biden-Harris administration, he said, agents suffered from a lack of manpower and equipment.
BIDEN-HARRIS OPEN BORDER POLICY RELEASED ILLEGAL 3 WEEKS BEFORE JOCELYN NUNGARAY KILLED, MOTHER SAYS
Arizona rancher Jim Chilton speaks at the Republican National Convention on July 17, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
“We had an open border, where our agents were so busy processing family units and unaccompanied children,” he added. “Meanwhile, all of these dangerous criminals eluded law enforcement, and that means many criminals have entered the U.S. and are now living in our communities.”
Those threats include members of the violent, transnational gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua.
They are terrorizing our fellow citizens in the US, Garza said. “Now we’re going to have a very difficult job undoing everything the Biden administration has done.”
Hector Garza speaks during a press briefing alongside then-President Trump on January 3, 2018. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
However, he said, he is confident they can get the job done with the support of Trump, Noem, Homan, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner nominee Rodney Scott and members of Congress who support him.
“President Trump can’t do it alone,” he said. “Congress is a very important piece of the puzzle.”
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South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (Brandon Bell/Getty Images/File)
Noem, who has has advocated for stricter border measures for more than a decade, vowed to both secure the border and “return security to America’s communities” – many of which have been hit by migrant crime in recent years. Before winning the South Dakota governor’s office, she served in the House of Representatives and as a state representative.
The shocking murders victimized women and girls across the country, in Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Massachusetts and elsewhere, repeatedly drawing national attention during the Biden-Harris administration.
Trump invited some of the victims’ families to attend his second term inauguration on Monday.
