Kristi Noem’s biggest controversies as head of Homeland Security’s job hangs in the balance

DHS secretary Noem is under mounting pressure from Democrats and Republicans alike after a series of fatal shootings in Minneapolis. Owen Scott looks at her rise and potential fall

Kristi Noem has had a meteoric rise in the last year, from governor of her native South Dakota to Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Since being confirmed in January 2025, Noem has overseen a brutal and divisive immigration crackdown, attracting widespread criticism for heavy-handed tactics.

The backlash has escalated significantly after two fatal shootings in Minneapolis in January, during Operation Metro Surge. Renee Good, a mom-of-three and poet, was killed by an ICE agent, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, was shot dead by a border patrol officer.

Noem, already something of a magnet for controversy, has found herself at the center of the scandal with her defense of the two agents, leading to calls for her to resign from both sides of the political aisle.

In the meantime, huge protests have erupted in Minneapolis and other cities over ICE’s methods.

Kristi Noem was appointed as head of the Department of Homeland Security when Donald Trump returned to the White House (AP)

Noem’s meteoric rise

Noem, 54, was born and raised on a ranch outside of Waterdown, South Dakota.

She left college without graduating in March 1994 after her father was killed in a grain bin accident on the family farm. Noem gave birth to her daughter, Kassidy, a month later.

By 2006, she had won her first election, representing South Dakota’s 6th district at the state’s House of Representatives.

Noem was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011 before becoming her state’s governor in 2018, winning re-election in 2022.

After becoming governor, Noem started working closely with Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager. During the pandemic, she rose to prominence in conservative circles for resisting most government regulations to slow the spread of infections.

While in Congress, Noem sponsored legislation to federally ban abortion, supported Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban,” and opposed Obamacare.

She has been married to Bryon Noem since 1992 and has three children.

Noem has been mocked as ‘ICE Barbie’ on social media (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via Getty Images)

Becoming ‘Ice Barbie’

Noem was appointed as Secretary of Homeland Security in January 2025, when President Trump returned to the White House for a second term.

Her approach to the role became clear within days, when she axed temporary protected status for around 600,000 Venezuelans who had fled President Nicolas Maduro’s regime (who the Trump administration would later overthrow).

She soon earned the nickname “ICE Barbie” on social media, over her appearance at ICE raids as she enforced Trump’s tough immigration policy.

However, her job is now reportedly at serious risk due to her handling of ICE’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Noem’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis has proven to be particularly controversial (Getty)

Noem has defended the agents involved in both fatalities, suggesting Good was engaged in “domestic terrorism” and alleging that Pretti had brandished a gun. Both claims have been disputed.

The White House has defended Noem, who held a late-night meeting with Trump earlier this week as the Minneapolis crisis grew, according to The New York Times.

When asked about the meeting, a White House spokesperson referred one of The Atlantic’s reporters to a statement from Karoline Leavitt, who wrote that Noem has the president’s “utmost confidence and trust.”

Nevertheless, Republicans and Democrats alike have called for her to be removed from the role, branding her approach “amateurish”.

Backlash after shooting her own dog

Before Trump was re-elected, the spotlight fell on Noem’s past as she was being considered for his vice presidential running mate.

Her own memoir — No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward — was released in the run-up to the 2024 election campaign.

In it, Noem revealed she had executed her dog, Cricket, sparking widespread criticism. The 14-month-old wire-haired pointer was killed after ‘misbehaving’ on a hunting trip.

Noem claimed her dog would not calm down, even when shocked with an electric collar. She later decided to kill the animal after being forced to write a check to a local family, whose chicken was devoured by Cricket.

“I hated that dog,” she wrote in the book, before admitting that shooting her was not a “pleasant job.”

South Park aired a scene in which a character, who appeared to be a mocking depiction of Noem, killed animals (Comedy Central/Paramount)

Noem later defended herself on X: “We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm.”

Critics had thought the shooting would prevent her from taking a role in the future Trump administration.

“You can recover from a lot of things in politics, change the narrative etc — but not from killing a dog,” Meghan McCain, the daughter of John McCain said at the time.

However, while she lost out on the VP position to JD Vance, Noem was ultimately appointed to head the DHS less than a year later.

The bizarre incident led to South Park airing a skit in which a gruesome caricature of Noem opened fire on dogs in a pet store. The cartoon character was depicted as wearing an ICE uniform as well as having heavy makeup on her face, which later slid off from excessive Botox.

Noem hit out at the episode, and the targeting of her appearance.

“It’s so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look,” she said on the Glenn Beck Program. “If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that. But clearly they can’t — they just pick apart something petty like that.”

Bryon Noem with his wife as she appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for her confirmation hearing (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Clashes with tribes and other controversies

The Oglala Sioux told Noem in 2019 that she was not welcome on the Pine Ridge reservation after she led efforts to pass a state law targeting demonstrations such as those in neighboring North Dakota that plagued the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

The governor also clashed with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe over Fourth of July fireworks displays at Mount Rushmore. The tribe has opposed the fireworks displays at a monument they view as a desecration of land violently stolen from them decades ago.

In 2020, the South Dakota agency responsible for licensing real estate appraisers denied an application from Noem’s daughter.

Days later, Noem summoned the state employee who ran the agency, the woman’s direct supervisor and the state labor secretary to her office for a meeting. Four months later, Noem's daughter got the certification.

South Dakota lawmakers later unanimously approved a report finding that Noem’s daughter got preferential treatment while applying for the license.

An Associated Press report on Noem’s actions surrounding the licensure sparked the investigation. The governor has said her daughter did not get preferential treatment.