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Nominee Kristi Noem pledges to prioritize border enforcement, senators press on CBP One and parole programs
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Summary
Kristi Noem pledged to prioritize border security and to end programs senators described as facilitating releases and rapid entries, including the CBP One phone app and mass parole programs. Lawmakers pushed for staffing at northern ports, resources for the Gordie Howe International Bridge and partnerships with governors and tribes.
During her confirmation hearing, Governor Kristi Noem said securing the nation's borders would be a top priority if confirmed as Secretary of Homeland Security and promised to work with Congress and state leaders to restore enforcement focus. "Border security must remain a top priority," Noem said in her opening statement and later told Senator Peters she would commit to ensuring staffing for the northern border and the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
Several senators urged immediate action on policies and programs they said enabled rapid entry or release of noncitizens. When asked about the CBP One phone application, Senator Johnson and others noted press reporting and an inspector general review alleging the app had facilitated releases without vetting; Noem responded, "If confirmed on day 1, CBP 1 will be shut down," while adding that retained data would be preserved for enforcement use.
Lawmakers pressed Noem on mass parole programs (one cited in the hearing as "CHNV") and on the broader use of parole authorities outside case-by-case evaluation. Noem said she would return to case-by-case parole evaluations and called for more judges and immigration court capacity to process cases: "We will go back to case by case evaluation of these parole cases and ensure that we have more resources if you will partner with us to... have more judges, more immigration courts."
Several senators described sending National Guard forces to the southern border (Noem said South Dakota had deployed the Guard eight times) and cited Title 32 authority for those activations; Noem said governors must be part of coordination with the federal government and criticized what she described as poor communication from the prior administration about refugee placements. Senators from northern-border states (including Peters and Hassan) pressed Noem for commitments to the northern border mission center and for targeted technology and staffing where remote topography limits infrastructure.
Noem repeatedly framed enforcement priorities as focused on criminal aliens and those with final orders, stating she would prioritize removal of criminal aliens and of those with final orders and saying: "They will be the number 1 priority to make our communities safer."
