Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday praised law enforcement officials for their work under President Donald Trump "to make sure that we have freedom and liberty for our children and our grandchildren for years to come."
Speaking at a news conference in Nogales, Arizona, broadcast live on Newsmax, Noem credited Trump's border policies with delivering what she called the most secure border in American history, following what she described as a "humanitarian crisis" created by the Biden administration's open-border approach.
"What we had going on here under the Biden administration was the greatest humanitarian crisis we had ever seen," Noem said. "And the way you fix it is simple: you enforce the law, and you apply it equally to every single person."
Noem thanked border czar Tom Homan, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the National Guard, local sheriffs, and other federal and state partners for what she described as a dramatic turnaround along the southern border.
She also praised Trump for keeping his campaign promises, including building the border wall and restoring law and order.
"In President Trump's first year back in office, we've delivered the most secure border in American history," Noem said. "It's so quiet here now that sometimes we forget how bad it was just a little over a year ago."
The secretary detailed conditions she said plagued border communities during the Biden years, including mass illegal crossings, human trafficking, cartel violence, property destruction, and deaths from heat exposure and drowning.
She recounted visits to Eagle Pass, Texas, where she said more than 10,000 illegal migrants crossed in a single day in 2023, overwhelming the town and forcing a state of emergency.
The secretary also described ranchers finding dead bodies on their land, fences cut by smugglers, livestock lost, and families living in fear as cartels moved drugs and people through their property.
While Democrats and the left labeled those policies "compassionate," Noem rejected that framing outright.
"It was dangerous," she said. "It was dangerous for Americans and dangerous for the migrants who were being exploited, abused, trafficked, and killed."
Noem highlighted what she described as measurable results under Trump.
According to DHS figures she cited, daily border encounters have dropped by 95%, Border Patrol has released zero illegal migrants into the U.S. interior for nine consecutive months, and CBP seizures of illicit drugs exceeded 600,000 pounds in 2025 alone.
She also said fentanyl flows have been cut by more than half, contributing to a 30% drop in fentanyl-related deaths nationwide.
Perhaps most striking, Noem said the Trump administration has located 145,000 migrant children lost under Biden-era policies and is continuing efforts to find the rest.
"This is what compassion really looks like," Noem said. "Protecting our people, enforcing the law, and saving lives."
She closed by framing the border fight as a defining choice for the nation.
"A country with no border is no country at all," Noem said. "The American people chose law and order, and because of that choice, this country has a bright future again."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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