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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has been deployed to the northern and southern borders on the same day this week as the Trump administration tightens immigration enforcement across the country. Despite widespread criticism following the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota, Noem told Fox News Digital that the department will not be hindered by sanctuary politicians from doing its job of getting dangerous immigrants off the streets.
“I think people are going to want less conflict,” Noem told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview in Nogales, Ariz., this week. “They also want to know that we are strengthening our laws and that we are going after dangerous criminals. And they don’t want them to be released on the streets to continue committing more crimes. So we will continue to do our job and follow through on what President Trump has promised.”
“We will not be stopped by elected officials who want to create conflict,” added the secretary. “We will continue to protect the American people and make sure we have the opportunity to go after those dangerous immigrants and remove them.”
The secretary’s comments come as border chief Tom Homan announced an immediate reduction of 700 workers in Minnesota, effective Wednesday. Homan cited improved cooperation with prisons, although 2,000 officers will still remain in the state. Homan emphasized that the overall decrease was the goal but said that “depends on the end of illegal and intimidating activities against ICE.”
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Anti-ICE activists in Minnesota have been targeting street enforcement and protests have increased since the shootings of Good and Pretti. Good was killed by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent during an altercation on Jan. 7, and Pretti was shot by Border Patrol agents on Jan. 24 during law enforcement work.
As Minnesota’s leadership demanded that immigration officials leave the state, Noem painted the crackdown on illegal immigration as aimed at protecting Americans, not creating political controversy.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visits Eagle Pass, Texas, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Fox News Digital’s Kat Ramirez)
President Donald Trump rejected calls to fire Noem while speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC, on Thursday. He cited “the strongest border in the history of our country” in protecting the secretary.
While speaking with Fox News Digital in Nogales, a city just over the US-Mexico border, Noem pointed to propaganda from the state’s leadership as a reason for the strength of public resistance in Minnesota. Noem also said that working in cities with collaborative officers has gone well, giving Memphis, Tenn., as an example.
“Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Twin Cities, have the opportunity to do the same thing as Memphis. There we had a Democrat mayor who worked with us. It was almost the same size of the city, almost the same number of federal law enforcement officers were there, and we significantly cut the crime and murder rate and we worked well together,” said Noem.
“It shouldn’t be this way. And the way it happened in Minneapolis is largely due to the speech and actions of the leadership there because they will not cooperate with the federal government to strengthen the law,” he added.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Col. Retired Michael Gorby, of the Texas National Guard, looks at before and after pictures in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. Noem assessed the progress made since he took office last year. (Fox News Digital’s Kat Ramirez)
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are among the most vocal critics of the Trump administration’s tactics.
Noem told Fox News Digital that he believes Homan is “working” to get local officials “to come to the table and work with us,” particularly in the investigation of alleged fraud linked to the Somali community. The secretary alleged that Walz and Frey “perpetuated and permitted fraud on an unprecedented scale in Minneapolis.”
“Tens of billions of dollars [were] stolen from Americans and vulnerable people who needed those services and allowed into the pockets of criminals. So, they don’t want the law to be there,” Noem said, adding that Walz and Frey allegedly intended to prevent Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigators “from getting to the bottom of how widespread that fraud was.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Walz and Frey for comment.
Noem said the Trump administration’s approach reflects what he says the American people want: less crime and stronger law enforcement.
“Every day we find terrorists and remove them from our country, we protect our cyber security systems, our critical infrastructure,” he said.
From left to right, US Border Patrol Officer Michael Banks, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Del Rio Field Chief Anthony “Scott” Good inspection of the progress made in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Fox News Digital’s Kat Ramirez)
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Noem said the people of Nogales were “happy” with the results of the administration’s crackdown on immigration, saying the locals had found “their way of life.” He also added that former President Joe Biden’s policies were “detrimental” to the area.
Noem also talked about DHS efforts to keep drugs out of the country, something he said is a “problem” under Biden.
“Well, we are here in Nogales, which under the policies of Joe Biden, became a humanitarian problem. In fact, passing through here was known as a major drug trafficking area. They have a highway near here called the ‘Cocaine Highway’ because the cartels transport a lot of drugs here that killed the next generation of Americans,” said the secretary.
From left to right, Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, Border Patrol Agent Michael Banks and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem assess the progress made in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Fox News Digital’s Kat Ramirez)
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Despite the growing criticism, Noem cited the department’s successes, including a large number of deportations, both by law enforcement and by “self-deportation.” He noted that the administration was encouraging mass deportations by offering free flights and $2,600 payments.
Noem also touched on the issue of DHS funding, which has been a source of tension between Democrats and Republicans. The debate over the department’s funding has the potential to spark another government shutdown. The secretary told Fox News Digital that only 11% of the DHS budget is allocated to ICE, with the rest going to FEMA, TSA and other agencies under the department.
Despite the ongoing fight over funding, Noem said he is “hopeful” that Congress will see that DHS funding goes beyond immigration enforcement and that the bill will be passed “quickly.”
Tessa Hoyos of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
