U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem told Michigan Republicans who gathered at last weekend’s Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference that the world is getting the message: “We’re a different country now under President Trump than we were under Joe Biden.”
“President Trump has been so extremely successful in the policies he’s put in place and the laws that his team has enforced to make sure that we stop that invasion that was coming over our border, and that we’ve made sure we put Americans first and their safety and their families first,” Noem said.
The audience at Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel appreciated Noem’s message.
“And we have now for the last several months had zero illegal people, and illegal aliens and criminals released into our country,” she said to a thundering applause. “In fact, we’ve deported almost 400,000 people, but because of our messaging campaign in other countries and here in the United States, we’ve had 1.6 million people voluntarily say, ‘I’m going to go home.’”
Noem noted 70% of illegal immigrants detained by federal agents in the largest deportation operation in U.S. history “have criminal charges against them.”
“So these are murderers and rapists, human traffickers and drug traffickers, dangerous people who were in our communities violating our kids and our family members, killing them with poison,” she said. “All of the communities are so incredibly grateful to have a president who cares about them, and their safety.”
Noem pointed to Trump’s success in removing criminal illegal immigrants even from places where Democratic politicians have worked against him, and how that success has driven recruitment to federal immigration enforcement agencies “through the roof.”
“We now have over 150,000 applications for those 10,000 positions” funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law by the 47th POTUS in July, Noem said.
The former governor of South Dakota outlined the authorities and responsibilities of her department, and a renewed focus on protecting Americans she says was neglected under the Biden administration.
“There’s a lot to fix,” Noem said.
“President Trump broke down the silos between our agencies and departments and allows us to work together in a way that’s never happened before,” she said.
Noem also spoke about Trump’s economic policies, juxtaposing his accomplishments with statistics during the Biden administration.
“Under the Biden administration, 88% of the new jobs that were created went to foreign born individuals, people who weren’t Americans,” she said. “Now since President Trump has been in office, 2 million more Americans have gotten jobs and 100% of the new jobs go to Americans because they’re prioritized.”
“And, what most people aren’t talking about, and the news doesn’t talk about, is that President Trump also has the highest naturalization rate,” Noem said, “which means more people are becoming U.S. citizens under his leadership than ever before, because they’re doing it the right way.”
Noem pointed to savings for taxpayers from Trump’s immigration efforts, noting many in the country illegally relied on social programs that provide food, housing, and other expenses.
“These 2 million individuals that have left our country, … the vast majority of them were signed up for our social programs, for our healthcare, for housing,” she said. “Just by those individuals leaving our country and going home and not being here illegally anymore, has saved us over $15 billion in costs to our budget.”
“Just by him giving me the flexibility … to do the right thing, we have saved $13 billion just in the Department of Homeland Security in making things more efficient, negotiating better contracts, making sure we’re spending our money on things that we should be and not on things that had no responsibility to be paid in the Department of Homeland Security,” Noem said.
The Homeland secretary closed her remarks with a call to unity.
“The only way we will be able to preserve this country, for our kids and our grandkids, is to remember life is about relationships. Life is about people,” she said. “So … remember how wonderful people are, and don’t be offended by things that you say or you hear, go out and have those conversations and remember it’s not about us. … Think about the opportunities you’re leaving the next generation.
“Because that’s truly what the founders of this country did for us. They sacrificed in incredible ways to give us this country, and we’re not going to lose it on my watch” Noem said.
