DHS Paying Local Police Millions For Immigration Enforcement
The Trump administration’s immigration enforcement often appeared calibrated for public attention and maximum spectacle under former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. For much of the administration’s first 14 months, operations commonly included highly-produced videos, bombastic social media rhetoric and staged photo ops. Noem became the public face of the crackdown, but that also made her a convenient scapegoat as public disapproval of the campaign ballooned, especially after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis.