A new report claims Secretary Kristi Noem is ruffling feathers at the Department of Homeland Security with her glamorous photo ops — complete with wardrobe, hair, and makeup — as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents work to meet President Donald Trump's arrest quotas for undocumented migrants.
The Wall Street Journal dubbed Noem's efforts a "made-for-TV approach to Homeland Security," while The Daily Beast referred to Noem as an "ICE cosplaying" Barbie whose ride-alongs are carefully curated for commercials and social media posts.
Critics claim Noem's publicity stunts hinder operations that often rely on the element of surprise to make arrests, as the Journal's report explains.
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"Noem’s approach is rankling ICE officials, who grumble that her desire for publicity interfered with the operations of the agency she is in charge of running," wrote WSJ reporter Michelle Hackman. "Though the New York raid went ahead, it resulted in fewer arrests than officials had hoped for, the people familiar with the operation said."
Since January, Noem "has gone horseback riding with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, joined the Coast Guard for boat and helicopter patrols, ridden an ATV through the Arizona desert, and traveled to El Salvador to film a propaganda video at a notorious torture prison," Hackman wrote.
DHS staffers regard Noem as "more of a chief spokeswoman than a traditional secretary closely guiding the agency’s direction," according to the Journal report.
Although Noem's defenders say she has been "effective" in ramping up deportations, the department is "nowhere close to the pace needed to meet the administration’s internal goal of hitting one million a year. Trump has grown increasingly frustrated in private at the slow pace of progress, and advisers around him believe that, without a significant change soon, someone will need to take the blame."