Kristi Noem testifies in tense Senate hearing as she faces questions on Minnesota killings and ICE tactics: Live updates – UK Times

Democratic Senator Chris Coons asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem if she would rule out sending federal immigration agents to polling locations during the upcoming midterm elections.

“There are no plans to have ICE officers at our polling locations,” Noem testified.

“I’m glad to hear that, but would you rule it out?” Coons asked. “Would you say it will not happen?”

“Do you plan on illegal aliens voting in our elections?” Noem replied.

About 650 DHS agents are still in Minnesota, Kristi Noem testified.

That total includes investigators who are working on fraud cases in the state, she added.

Senator John Kennedy asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem about an Axios article published shortly after Alex Pretti was killed.

Noem told an unidentified source that “everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen,” according to the outlet.

Noem told lawmakers the article was based on anonymous sourcing and said she enjoys working with the president and Stephen Miller.

Senator Amy Klobuchar grilled DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on her comments following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Klobuchar said Noem called them “domestic terrorists without any evidence of that.”

“Ma’am, I did not call him a domestic terrorist, I said it appeared to be an incident of,” Noem said, referring to her comments after Pretti was killed.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described the actions of Renee Good and Alex Pretti as “domestic terrorism” after they were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.

After a federal immigration agent fatally shot Good in her car on January 7, Noem said she had “weaponized her vehicle against law enforcement” and described her actions as “domestic terrorism.”

When Pretti was killed on January 24, Noem made a similar statement.

“This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism,” she said at the time. “That’s the facts.”

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse grilled DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on the agency’s purchase of a “luxury jet.”

“What kind of deportee justifies being flown out of the country in a luxury jet with a bedroom and accommodations?” he asked.

“They’re aircraft being purchased that will be utilized for executive air travel and for deportations. If you remember, in the past, we have used jets of this size and this configuration for deportations,” Noem replied.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem defended the use of administrative warrants to make immigration arrests, saying “it is the legal process we have.” The warrants are internal administrative documents, drafted and signed by ICE officers themselves, and are not reviewed by a judge.

Federal judges, constitutional law experts and Democratic members of Congress have roundly rejected the administration’s defense that such warrants can be used because undocumented immigrants aren’t covered by the Fourth Amendment.

Earlier this month, a group of House Democrats wrote to Noem urging ICE to rescind a memo instructing officers to rely on them.

“You must rescind this memo and adhere to the requirements of the Fourth Amendment by ensuring your agents obtain a judicial warrant prior to making any non-consensual entry into a private residence,” they wrote.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin asked DHS Secretary Kristi Noem if she would retract previous statements labeling Alex Pretti and Renee Good as “domestic terrorists.”

“You and your agency rushed to brand these victims as ‘domestic terrorists,’” Durbin said. “We have ample video evidence and eyewitness testimony proving you are wrong. Your statements cause immeasurable pain to these families.”

“Let me give you an opportunity to do the right thing,” he added. “Do you retract these statements identifying these individuals as domestic terrorists?”

“When we have these situations happen, we always offer our condolences to those families, and I offer mine as well,” Noem replied. “These are tragic situations, and I can’t imagine what these families go through and losing a loved one.”

Noem noted that her agency works to provide Americans with “as much information as possible.”

“Is it so hard to say you were wrong?” Durbin asked.

“I absolutely strive to provide factual information and will continue to do that,” Noem said.

A second protester was removed from Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing after standing and shouting at DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told the Senate Judiciary Committee that ICE agents are facing a “dangerous environment.”

“I want to address the dangerous environment that our ICE officers face on the streets today. They are facing a serious and escalating threat as a result of deliberate mischaracterizations of their heroic work and rhetoric that demonizes our law enforcement,” she testified.

“DHS has documented an 8,000 percent increase in death threats against our ICE officers and their families, as well as more than 1,300 percent increase in assaults while carrying out the lawful enforcement operations that they do every single day,” she continued.