DHS chief fired, Trump nominates Senator Mullin as replacement

WASHINGTON, United States (MNTV) – U.S. President Donald Trump has fired Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and nominated Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace her in a major leadership shake-up tied to the administration’s immigration policies.

“I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

He added that Noem will serve as “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.”

Noem, a former governor of South Dakota, became one of Trump’s most high-profile Cabinet secretaries through social media posts that portrayed immigrants in harsh terms, highlighting cases of alleged criminal offenders and using inflammatory language.

She drew sharp criticism in January after quickly labeling two US citizens fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis as committing “domestic terrorism.”

Videos that emerged after the deaths contradicted that characterization, showing that the two deceased — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were not violent aggressors.

The backlash prompted the Trump administration to shift toward a more targeted approach to immigration enforcement in Minnesota, following months of city-wide sweeps that had led to violent clashes with residents. Democrats in the House moved to impeach Noem, and at least two Republicans called for her removal.

During congressional hearings in March, lawmakers from both parties criticized Noem’s management of DHS, including her handling of the immigration crackdown and a $220 million ad campaign that prominently featured her.

Under her leadership, masked immigration agents surged into Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., scouring neighborhoods and Home Depot parking lots for possible immigration offenders.

Public support for the administration’s approach declined as agents detained US citizens and used tear gas in the streets, with deportation numbers falling short of the administration’s goal of one million per year.

Though Noem served as a prominent face of Trump’s agenda, immigration policy has been controlled by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Noem was confirmed to lead the 260,000-employee department in January 2025.

On social media, she referred to immigrants convicted of crimes as “scumbags” even as arrests of non-criminals by immigration authorities rose. She joined enforcement operations in New York City and visited a maximum-security prison in El Salvador where Venezuelan immigrants deported by the Trump administration were held without charges or access to lawyers.

The number of migrants caught attempting to illegally cross the US-Mexico border fell sharply under Trump’s restrictive policies — a steep decline from the high levels of illegal immigration recorded under former President Joe Biden. Noem also took steps to cut legal immigration programs and tighten vetting, ending several Temporary Protected Status programs that had provided work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti and other countries, drawing legal challenges.

After an Afghan immigrant was accused of attacking National Guard members in Washington, D.C., Noem said she had recommended Trump impose “a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”

Experts said Noem demonized immigrants and pursued an enforcement strategy that disproportionately targeted non-criminal, working immigrants and families.

During her tenure, deaths in immigration detention rose to a two-decade high while oversight staff at DHS were significantly reduced.