Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem experienced what political experts are calling "the congressional equivalent of your mom catching you with your hand in the cookie jar" during Thursday's House Committee on Homeland Security hearing, when she confidently declared that her department has not deported military veterans—only to be immediately contradicted by a deported military veteran appearing via Zoom.
Representative Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island asked Noem a straightforward question about how many veterans she had deported. Her response was equally straightforward: none.
An aide materialized beside Magaziner holding an iPad, introducing Sae Joon Park, a Purple Heart recipient who served in Panama in 1989, took two bullets for his country, and was recently deported to South Korea—a nation he hadn't lived in since age seven. Park appeared on screen, waving from the country Noem's department had sent him to, presumably after not deporting him.
Noem, demonstrating the crisis management skills that have made her a household name for all the right reasons, pivoted to explaining that she's grateful for veterans who "follow our laws." Nothing says "thank you for your service" quite like deporting someone for minor drug charges from the 1990s after they developed PTSD from combat.
Magaziner then introduced two more veterans in the hearing room: one whose Irish wife has been detained for four months over eighty dollars in bad checks from a decade ago, and another whose father was punched in the head by an ICE agent on video.
The Secretary concluded her testimony by reminding everyone that her department targets "the worst of the worst," which apparently now includes Purple Heart recipients, military spouses, and septuagenarians who owe less than a hundred dollars.
Noem left the hearing early, citing a FEMA meeting, though Representative Julie Johnson suggested she might have simply been "scared" of further questions.
