"Inside the prison, Noem wore a navy baseball hat, a tight white long-sleeved shirt, and a fifty-thousand-dollar Rolex watch. Just before she reached Molina Acevedo's cell, she turned around and left. 'She didn't speak to anyone,' he said. Instead, Noem addressed the cameras. 'I want to thank El Salvador and their President for their partnership with the United States of America to bring our terrorists here.'"
"Noem, who was known by critics as 'ICE Barbie'-accessorized for any law-enforcement scenario-spent most of her time in President Donald Trump's Cabinet performing for the cameras. She dressed up in Coast Guard fatigues and in the green uniform of Border Patrol; she posed in flak jackets, and demanded that ICE agents record their arrests for social-media videos."
Kristi Noem served as Secretary of Homeland Security under President Trump, focusing heavily on public relations and self-promotion rather than substantive policy work. During a visit to a mega-prison in El Salvador holding Venezuelans sent without due process, she refused to engage with detainees reporting torture, instead addressing cameras to characterize immigrants as terrorists. Noem became known for staging elaborate photo opportunities, including wearing various law enforcement uniforms, posing in tactical gear, and recording expensive promotional campaigns. She directed ICE agents to film arrests for social media content and spent significant resources on publicity stunts, exemplifying a tenure marked by performative enforcement over genuine humanitarian or administrative concerns.
#dhs-leadership #immigration-enforcement #government-accountability #media-performance #human-rights-concerns
Read at The New Yorker
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