Trump's immigration stumbles in the spotlight as Noem ousted

President Donald Trump’s ouster of his top immigration enforcement official adds to the turmoil around the administration's signature second-term initiative, again putting the spotlight on a deportation push that has faced setbacks amid intense backlash.

Trump removed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with a March 5 social media post thanking her for her service and tapping Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin to take her place.

Noem was the face of Trump's sweeping and controversial immigration enforcement efforts and became a lightning rod for criticism, with Democrats pushing to impeach her and some prominent Republicans slamming her leadership in the weeks before Trump took action to remove her.

The DHS secretary had increasingly become a political liability for Trump, said GOP consultant Matthew Bartlett.

"For a long time, there has been an utter failure of leadership at DHS and a horrible compounding of problems," Bartlett said.

Trump has pushed a hard line on immigration enforcement, and Noem sought to deliver on the president's campaign pledge to enact the largest mass deportation program in U.S. history, one that Trump border czar Tom Homan promised in an interview after the 2024 election would employ "shock and awe."

The result has been dramatic scenes in American cities as immigration agents flooded into communities, sparking outrage about their tactics and heated conflicts with local officials. The Trump administration repeatedly pushed harder, deploying the National Guard to help with the effort and pursuing a confrontational approach that tested legal boundaries and the public's appetite for aggressively targeting the millions of immigrants without legal status.

Noem was at the center of it and frequently in the spotlight as she sparred with local officials and courted public attention, touring the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention facility in Florida with Trump and a notorious prison in El Salvador where some undocumented immigrants were sent.

The deportation effort Noem led repeatedly has run into roadblocks, though. Some of Trump's moves have been shot down in court, with judges ruling against National Guard deployments and the administration withdrawing troops from Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles. Trump also pulled immigration agents out of Minneapolis after they killed two people, sparking protests. After Minneapolis, Democrats targeted DHS funding, allowing it to lapse and shut down the agency as they push for ICE reforms.

Noem was criticized for her handling of the Minneapolis operation, but Trump stood by her at the time, saying, "I think she's doing a very good job. The border is totally secure."

Meanwhile, the public began to sour on Trump's immigration approach, with polls showing most Americans disapprove of his performance on an issue that has been central to his political identity.

Bartlett said Noem's departure is a "course correction." Some Trump allies welcomed the move.

When asked about whether Noem's firing signaled a change in the administration's immigration strategy, the White House referred to a social media comment from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

"President Trump's immigration agenda is keeping our borders secure and deporting illegal alien criminals from our country, and it will continue without interruption," she said in a comment posted March 5 on social media.

"It was time for a change," South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham said in a statement about the DHS shakeup.

Noem has faced intense criticism, including from some Republicans, for how the administration has carried out the deportation push. She was grilled in a pair of congressional hearings this week, with North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis accusing her of seeking "quantity over quality" in the pursuit of immigration arrests.

“We’re an exceptional nation and one of the reasons we’re exceptional is that we expect exceptional leadership. And you’ve demonstrated anything but that,” Tillis said.

Noem faced questions from lawmakers during the hearing about a $220 million DHS ad campaign that featured her prominently. She said Trump approved the campaign, remarks that reportedly upset the president, who later told Reuters, "I never knew anything about it." Noem was also questioned about DHS purchasing luxury jets and other concerns about the agency that oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations.

Democrats have focused on alleged abuses by immigration agents during Noem's tenure. Democratic leaders who fought against ICE tactics in their communities were quick to celebrate her removal.

“Hey Kristi Noem, don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said in a video posted on social media. “Here’s your legacy: Corruption and chaos, parents and children tear gassed. Moms and nurses, U.S. citizens, getting shot in the face.”

Pritzker clashed with Noem and Trump over ICE operations in Chicago and the administration’s deployment of the National Guard in the city.

Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said on social media that the DHS secretary had done a "stunning amount of damage." Walz continued to raise concerns about the agency carrying out Trump's deportation push, though.

"This doesn’t change the fact that we need a complete overhaul of DHS," he said.