Noem will testify in the Senate in her first appearance since 2 Minneapolis protesters’ deaths

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is set to testify Tuesday in the Senate, her first congressional appearance since the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis galvanized widespread opposition to how the Trump administration was executing its mass deportation agenda.

Noem’s appearance in front of the Judiciary Committee also comes on the heels of a weekend shooting at a bar in Texas that is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, leading to concerns that the escalating conflict in Iran could have repercussions for security in the U.S.

Her department’s immigration tactics triggered a clash in Congress over its routine funding, which remains unresolved, although a spending bill passed last year granted it a significant infusion of cash for the Republican administration’s mass deportation policy.

Noem last appeared in Congress in December. But since then, President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda and its enforcement by Noem’s department have met fierce resistance in Minnesota, culminating in the deaths of two protesters, both U.S. citizens, at the hands of federal immigration officers.

In what was initially billed as an effort to root out fraud in Minnesota, Homeland Security eventually sent hundreds of officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to the state. They were met by protesters who organized marches, patrolled neighborhoods for ICE activity with whistles and ferried food to immigrants too afraid to leave their homes.

Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer on Jan. 7, setting off intense protests by Minnesota politicians and residents pushing for Homeland Security to end its operation in the state. Then on Jan. 24, Customs and Border Protection officers opened fire on another Minnesota resident, Alex Pretti, who had been filming enforcement operations.

Those deaths led to cries for accountability and transparency. Noem, whose initial comments portrayed both Good and Pretti as the aggressors, has come under withering criticism by Democrats and even some Republicans, who have called for her to resign.

After public outrage over the deaths, Trump sent border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to take control of operations on the ground there. Homan has since announced a drawdown of the ICE and CBP officers who had been sent to Minnesota to carry out what had been dubbed Operation Metro Surge, although he’s been adamant that the president’s mass deportation agenda will continue.

Noem is expected to undergo fierce questioning from Democrats who say officers under her control have abused their power, used excessive force and violated people’s constitutional rights in carrying the Trump administration’s agenda.

“Secretary Noem is the public face for an abominable anti-immigrant crusade. Her agents continue to wreak havoc on our cities and act with unspeakable cruelty against children, immigrant families, and American citizens,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee, in a statement ahead of the hearing.

The Homeland Security Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Homeland Security has often blamed conflicts on the ground in places like Minneapolis and Chicago where it’s carrying out immigration enforcement activities as the fault of Democratic politicians who they say encourage people to oppose officers as they try to make arrests.

Noem is also slated to appear Wednesday in front of a House committee.