Kristi Noem Vows To Pursue Sanctuary City Mayors Who Thwart Federal Authority

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Friday on Fox News that she’ll target sanctuary city mayors who defy federal immigration laws.

During an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” Noem was asked if the administration is prepared to impose consequences on non-compliant officials who say they’ll thwart federal authority.

“Nobody’s above the law. Of course we will. But that’s up to President Trump. President Trump gives us a direction. I don’t sit here and make up a decision on what I do. I follow the law,” Noem said.

“We treat everybody the same in this country now that we have President Trump in the White House, and he’s going to give us direction on how we’re going to go after these individuals.”

Noem talked about transparency and said it’s important to tell people how their leaders — under the guise of local ordinances — protect wrongdoers.

“The reality is, these sanctuary cities, their laws have caused us problems. They are limiting some of our tools that we want in our toolbox, but we’re going to continue to go in and use our operations and then show in other cities how it’s working and tell our story to the American people,” Noem said. “The people in their community need to hear how their mayors, their elected officials, are protecting the criminals.”

The Senate confirmed Noem as DHS secretary last week. She’s responsible for implementing President Donald Trump’s executive orders on border security and immigration. She’s also tasked with directing operations at Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other agencies.

The Trump administration has been working to deport illegal immigrants as they scaled back deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans that President Joe Biden had extended just days before leaving office. In a DHS memo obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, the DHS revoked an 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status granted to approximately 600,000 Venezuelan nationals earlier in January.