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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been a lightning rod for criticism amid anti-ICE riots that have rocked the country, sparked a government shutdown and left many wondering whether the nation’s eighth DHS secretary would keep her job.
Despite the mounting pressure, Noem appeared calm, collected and confident during a trip this week that included a stop in Mississippi to assess winter storm damage recovery efforts, visits to the southern border in Texas and Arizona as well as the northern border in North Dakota and a barbecue dinner hosted and served by Noem to Border Patrol agents in Arizona.
During the first half of the four-day stint, Congress was still dealing with a partial government shutdown largely over how to fund DHS. The House ultimately reached an agreement, funding the agency through Feb. 13, but Noem’s focus remained the same before and after the bill passed, and her schedule was left unchanged.
Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference along the border wall in Nogales, Ariz., Feb. 4. (DHS photo by Mikaela McGee)
During an exclusive interview along the border wall in Nogales, Arizona, Noem told Fox News Digital the national security functions of the agency are too vital to be sidelined by a spending fight.
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“Every day [DHS is] finding terrorists and removing them from our country, protecting our cybersecurity systems, our critical infrastructure,” Noem told Fox. “Only 11% of the DHS budget is ICE. The rest of it is FEMA, TSA, that runs our security checkpoints at our airports.
“It is also the Coast Guard, which is absolutely critical to our maritime protection and also partnering with the Department of War,” Noem added. “We have weapons of mass destruction, science and technology, our national labs.
“We have a lot of responsibilities that we absolutely need to fund in order to do them properly….
