Kristi Noem Testifies DHS Hasn’t Deported Any Veterans. Seconds Later, a Kicked-Out War Hero Calls into the Hearing

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced intense questioning on Thursday, Dec. 11, over her department’s deportation practices, including cases involving U.S. military veterans.

Testifying before the House about national security threats, the 54-year-old cabinet member was confronted by Rep. Seth Magaziner, a Democrat from Rhode Island, about how her agency has handled veterans facing removal from the United States.

“Madame Secretary, how many United States military veterans have you deported?” Magaziner asked during the hearing.

“No, sir, we have not deported U.S. citizens or military veterans,” Noem replied.

As Magaziner began discussing his own respect for service members, a man seated behind him stood up and brought over a tablet showing a veteran appearing via video.

“As Americans, we owe everything to those who have served our country in uniform, particularly those who have served in combat. Do you agree with that?” Magaziner continued.

Noem began, “Sir, I believe that people that are in the United States that are citizens have legal status here—” before Magaziner cut in to introduce the remote witness.

“Madame Secretary, we are joined on Zoom by a gentleman named Sae Joon Park,” Magaziner said. “He is a United States Army combat veteran who was shot twice while serving our country in Panama in 1989.”

Magaziner explained that Park, a Purple Heart recipient, suffered from PTSD and substance abuse after his service and was arrested in the 1990s for “minor drug offenses.” NPR previously reported that Park had been charged with possession of a controlled substance and bail jumping while struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine.

Park has been sober for 14 years, Magaziner noted, before telling Noem, “Earlier this year, you deported him to Korea, a country he hasn’t lived in since he was 7 years old.”

Magaziner then asked Noem to join him in thanking Park for his military service.

Noem responded that she is “grateful for every single person that has served our country and follows our laws, and knows that our laws are important and every one of them needs to be enforced.”

When Magaziner pressed her on whether she would review Park’s case, Noem said she “absolutely” would, but added, “Our programs need to have integrity, as well.”

Magaziner went on to raise additional cases. He highlighted a Navy veteran named Jim Brown, whose wife came to the U.S. from Ireland and has lived in the country for 48 years but has spent the last four months in prison.

“She did not come here illegally, and she has never committed any crime other than writing two bad checks totaling $80 ten years ago,” Magaziner said.

Noem responded that it was not “my prerogative, my latitude or my job to pick and choose which laws in this country get enforced,” prompting Magaziner to argue that she has “broad discretion” as Homeland Security secretary. Under further questioning, she said she would review Brown’s wife’s case.

The congressman then described another family’s situation, involving a veteran whose father, Narciso Barranco, was allegedly targeted by immigration agents over the summer and punched in the head. Magaziner urged Noem to consider granting Barranco parole.

He culminated his critique by telling Noem, “There are many problems with your leadership, but the biggest problem is this: You don’t seem to know how to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys. Go after the bad guys, go after the terrorists, do not go after veterans, Marines, children, United States citizens.”

According to reporting from The Hill and The Washington Post, Noem left the hearing early, saying she needed to attend another meeting — one that had reportedly been canceled. Her office told The Hill that she learned the meeting was called off only after she had left the witness table.

Noem has faced mounting criticism during her tenure at the Department of Homeland Security for her highly visible and hardline deportation tactics. Earlier this month, she used X to tout discussions with President Donald Trump about expanding travel restrictions.

In a Dec. 1 post, Noem called for a “full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”

Her comments came shortly after Trump, 79, said his administration planned to “permanently pause” migration from “Third World Countries,” without specifying which nations he meant or how such a policy would be carried out.