Kristi Noem is not running a federal agency, she’s producing one. With cameras everywhere, the United States Secretary of Homeland Security is making a movie out of immigration enforcement. From flak jackets to foreign prisons, a government policy has become a reality show.
Detainees are paraded like props, court rulings are dismissed as nothing but mere noise, and the camera never stops ruling. It makes us wonder when did immigration enforcement become a made-for-TV war zone.
Stage-Managed Raids in the Name of Security
Since Noem became the Department of Homeland Security secretary, she’s being fully involved in the action, like a good ole movie star. She accompanies ICE agents on raids in full tactical gear. Sometimes she even live-tweet arrests as they happen.
It became clear that it was all one big show when she was joined by Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik during a sting in Phoenix. During that raid, she had a gun slung over her shoulder; all the wrong shades of Rambo.
Why all the paparazzi? Apparently, in an internal memo, ICE was mandated to make 3,000 arrests per day. However, the DHS says there was nothing like that, and the recordings are for the sake of accountability. But this action begs a question: is it justice or a produced spectacle that bulldozes due process?
Guantánamo Camps, El Salvador Prisons, and DHS on Tour
Noem and ICE agents continue their tour in the name of immigration enforcement and security. She’s been to a Guantánamo Bay camp that is holding detainees. Recently, a senator said this costs the government $100,000 per person daily. Yet, Noem had no qualms shooting footage and delivering soundbites during her visit.
You might think that’s bad until you hear that she did a tour of a notorious prison in El Salvador; all on camera. To ensure the video looked good, she posed in combat boots and a $60,000 Rolex, while standing in front of shirtless inmates. This wasn’t about legal oversights, it was about optics.