Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is facing the most precarious moment of her tenure as President Donald Trump effectively sidelined her Monday, deploying Border Czar Tom Homan to seize control of the spiraling crisis in Minneapolis.
Homan is expected to be greeted as a hero by rank-and-file immigration agents, while Noem is back in Washington taking knives and trying to save her standing in Trump’s inner circle, according to a half dozen DHS and White House insiders.
The president on Monday morning announced Homan would be deployed to Minneapolis amid growing unrest after immigration agents shot two natural-born American citizens dead this month, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
A source close to the White House revealed that Noem’s ‘petty’ rivalry with Homan could permanently damage her standing with the President and potentially sink her career at DHS.
‘Noem’s decision to sideline Homan was a huge mistake,’ the White House insider told the Daily Mail. ‘Homan has law enforcement experience and also understands the thoughts and opinions of ICE agents. He’s more tapped into people in the field.’
Noem and other top DHS officials reacted to the shootings by accusing Good and Pretti of being ‘domestic terrorists’ trying to attack immigration officers.
With Noem increasingly on shaky ground, Homan’s arrival is expected to provide a sense of calm and competence among the rank-and-file officers who’ve grown frustrated with Noem’s divisive rhetoric against American citizens killed in Minneapolis.
More than 3,000 federal agents are now operating in and around Minneapolis, with roughly 2,000 of them from ICE. Calls from elected officials, including some Republicans, have grown to reduce or withdraw the surge of agents amid widespread protests.
Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino, a Noem loyalist who went viral for thrusting himself in front of cameras during the height of the Minneapolis protests, has also been ordered to leave the city along with scores of his agents as Homan takes control, according to multiple reports.
‘Noem’s rhetoric on the news has only fanned the flames in Minneapolis,’ the ICE official told the Daily Mail. ‘So here comes Homan to the rescue.’
When asked by the Daily Mail if Trump’s appointment of Homan signals he’s losing confidence in Noem’s leadership, a separate DHS official responded, ‘She’s on the bench.’
Kristi Noem is facing Trump’s wrath as he orders her longtime rival, border czar Tom Homan, to clean up the chaos caused by her immigration crackdown in Minneapolis
Moments before Alex Pretti (on the ground) was fatally shot in the Minnesota city on Saturday
Kristi Noem with her longtime confidante and rumored lover Corey Lewandowski (pictured on the right)
Noem and Homan have battled for control of Trump’s mass deportation agenda from the start of his second-term. Under Noem’s leadership, non-law enforcement DHS officials have feuded with career ICE officers, who are seen as loyal to Homan, over how to detain and deport illegal migrants.
An insider close to Noem offered an unusual explanation for her apparent sidelining, arguing that her attention was pulled away by weather emergencies.
‘Noem was focused primarily on FEMA and the snow storms over the weekend, even though she answered questions about the mess in Minneapolis she was doing a lot,’ the source said. ‘With Homan now in charge, Noem can focus on the response to the ice storms and Homan can focus on the storm over ICE.’
Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump insider and Noem’s rumored lover, has publicly accused Homan of leaking to the media and has sought to oust immigration officers close to the border czar.
Homan now appears to have the President’s support after Trump appointed him to clean up the mess caused by Noem’s leadership in the Twin Cities.
Another former senior ICE official, who has maintained contact with officers in the field, said agents have been growing frustrated by Noem and Lewandowski’s leadership for months.
‘The officers feel they’ve been talked at this whole time. With the secretary and Corey, it’s been “this is what you are going to do.” And unfortunately, the ICE director (Todd Lyons) has been toeing the line, doing what they tell him to avoid getting fired,’ the official told the Daily Mail. ‘And Homan is not that guy.’
‘Now the sense is Homan will be there to listen to their concerns and their ideas of how we could be doing things better.’
Although Homan’s ascension may signal a sharp curtailing of Noem’s authority as deporter-in-chief, another White House insider cautioned that it does not necessarily mark the end of her tenure. The source said Noem could weather the scandal, albeit weakened, and increasingly isolated within Trump’s inner circle.
‘Obviously the Homan announcement is a sidelining of Noem but that doesn’t mean she’s done for,’ said the White House source.
‘How many times were similar stories written about Pete Hegseth or Tulsi Gabbard?’
One White House source suggested Noem’s fatal mistake was engaging in a petty rivalry with Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan
Multiple DHS insiders told the Daily Mail that Homan has the support of rank-and-file immigration officers who have lost confidence’s in Kristi Noem’s leadership
Demonstrators gather during a heavy snowstorm to protest against ICE’s presence in Minneapolis at the weekend
A former senior DHS official also echoed the frustration of rank-and-file immigration agents in blasting Noem’s leadership, but warned that Homan’s deployment to Minneapolis may have come too late to undo the damage.
‘Noem has time and again demonstrated her incompetence and inability to run the Department of Homeland Security. She should not have been nominated in the first place.’ The former official added that ‘while Homan is more competent’ it might be too late to improve the situation in Minneapolis.
New opinion polling indicates public support for ICE and Trump’s handling of immigration has rapidly declined in the last month since Noem launched the controversial Minnesota operation.
A new YouGov survey found that nearly half of Americans now view ICE unfavorably, with many saying the agency’s tactics have gone too far and even support abolishing it.
This statistic would have been seen as impossible a year ago after Trump roared back into the White House with a clear immigration mandate from voters.
Now Trump’s approval on immigration has fallen by double-digits as moderate criticism from Republicans and sharp condemnation from Democratic lawmakers increases over Noem’s continuous scandals.
All eyes are now on Homan to bring the chaos in Minneapolis to a close by brokering a deal between Trump and Gov. Walz that ends in ICE agents withdrawing from the city.
If successful, it could spell further trouble for Noem’s cabinet seat in the White House.
One ICE agent told the Daily Mail: ‘If Tom is successful in calming things down in Minnesota it speaks a lot to her ability to lead this agency.’
