Trump taps border-control hardliner for key position

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will nominate South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to head the Department of Homeland Security once he takes office next year. 

In a statement on Wednesday, Trump pointed to Noem’s “very strong”background in securing the US border and recalled that she was “the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis,” having sent troops “a total of eight times.” 

Trump stated that Noem will work closely with his new ‘border czar,” Tom Homan, to secure the US border and will “guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries.” 

The 52-year-old has accepted the appointment and stated that she looks forward to working with Trump to “make America safe again” by securing the border and “restoring safety to American communities.”  

Earlier this year, Noem was also one of several potential running mates being considered for Trump’s presidential campaign. However, following the release of her memoir ‘No Going Back’, she was faced with public outrage over an incident in which she admitted to killing her 14-month-old dog. Noem claimed the pup had an “aggressive personality” that made it untrainable to serve as a hunting dog.

Aside from her reputation for being tough on border security, Noem has also been a strong proponent of combating anti-Semitism. Earlier this year, she touted a bill that codified the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definitions of anti-Semitism into South Dakota law.  

At a signing ceremony for the bill in March, Noem said she hoped that the legislation would serve as a model for other states and be adopted nationwide. “The language that we have in this bill needs to be able to be used in courts and in litigation and to protect people and stop hate in this country against our Jewish community members,” she said at the time.  

In May, the US House of Representatives also passed the so-called Antisemitism Awareness Act, under which the US Department of Education was ordered to adopt the IHRA’s definition of anti-Semitism.   

However, the bill has been opposed by a number of lawmakers, including Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who criticized the IHRA’s broad definition, arguing that the legislation could be used to “convict Christians” for claiming that Jews killed Jesus Christ.