Homeland Security Hearing Previews Immigrant Fearmongering To Come

Major statistics cited in Kristi Noem’s confirmation hearing were just plain false.

Republicans repeatedly misrepresented statistics about immigration and crime during the confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s pick to run the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, giving a preview of the baseless fearmongering that is likely to be a hallmark of the incoming administration.

The lawmakers questioning South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump’s pick to oversee the department that runs border and interior immigration enforcement, claimed the Biden administration has “let in” thousands of murderers and hundreds of suspected terrorists over the past four years — but that’s not true, according to data from the same department Noem is hoping to run.

After one senator asked Noem about homegrown terrorism — in light of two recent deadly incidents carried out by American citizens — Noem changed topics, saying, “We all agree that the No. 1 threat to our homeland security is the southern border.”

It’s not true that “everyone agrees” with Noem. In the last 50 years, there hasn’t been a single American killed in a terrorist attack carried out by someone who entered the United States illegally, according to Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, who has spent years studying immigration and crime.

Separately in the hearing, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) claimed Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary under President Joe Biden, had “allowed” around 400 people on the terrorism watch list, formally known as the “terrorist screening data set,” to “come into this country illegally.” Noem cited similar figures.