Who is Kristi Noem, Donald Trump's choice for head of Homeland Security?

Secretary of Homeland Security has host of responsibilities, including administering border protection, immigration and national emergency response

Donald Trump appears on stage with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in Pennsylvania. AFP

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Kristi Noem to serve as the next head of the Department of Homeland Security.

"Kristi has been very strong on border security," Mr Trump said in a statement on Tuesday night. "She was the first governor to send National Guard soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden border crisis ... She will work closely with 'Border Czar' Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American homeland is secure from our adversaries."

The Homeland Security role has a host of responsibilities, including administering border protection, immigration and national emergency response.

If confirmed, she will replace current secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to impeach this year over what they claimed as mismanagement of the US southern border.

Political career

Once seen as a potential running mate for Mr Trump, Ms Noem is currently serving her second four-year term as South Dakota's Governor.

Ms Noem, a South Dakota native, was elected to the state legislature in 2006 after running her family's farm for several years.

She ran and won a seat in the US House in 2010 in a close race. During her time in Congress, she voiced support for US energy independence and sponsored legislation to ban abortion at the federal level.

In 2018, she ran for governor of South Dakota. During her tenure, she continued to champion energy independence, further cemented her pro-life stance and abolished the need for concealed carry licences in the state. She was re-elected in 2022 in a comfortable victory.

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The Covid-19 pandemic allowed for her rise to national prominence when she refused to impose a statewide mask mandate.

Ms Noem endorsed Mr Trump for president in September of last year and has been a vocal supporter of his “Make America Great Again” platform. In February, Mr Trump said she was one of the names on his shortlist of running mates.

However, after the publishing of her second autobiography, No Going Back, in which she describes shooting a dog that she “hated” to death, she appeared to fall out of favour with Mr Trump.

Positions on border and immigration

Ms Noem has voiced strong support for Mr Trump's immigration policies and has defended other Republican governors in their efforts to crack down on migrants in their states.

“The United States of America is in a time of invasion,” Ms Noem said in a joint session of the South Dakota state legislature this year. “The invasion is coming over our southern border. The 50 states have a common enemy, and that enemy is the Mexican drug cartels.”

She has also expressed support for the so-called Muslim ban, introduced by the Trump administration in 2017, that barred people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.

“I share the President’s concerns about our ability to screen refugees – especially those from terrorist hotbed areas,” she said in 2017, after the issuing of the executive order. “I support putting a temporary pause on accepting refugees from terrorist-held areas – at least until the administration can certify that asylum seekers do not present a safety threat to the US.”

Ms Noem will join an administration that is expected to include immigration hardliners, Stephen Miller and Tom Homan, in a further indication that Mr Trump plans to follow through with his plans.

Mr Trump has vowed to begin mass deportations of illegal immigrants as soon as he enters office. He has also previously indicated he would reinstate the Muslim ban, saying in September that he would “ban refugee resettlement from terror-infested areas like the Gaza Strip”.