Kristi Noem Testifies DHS Has Not Deported Any Veterans. Seconds Later, War Hero Kicked Out Calls in Hearing

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem was asked about a Purple Heart veteran deported by ICE during a December 11 hearing.

• Representative Seth Magaziner brought the veteran, Sae Joon Park, to the hearing on Zoom after he was deported to Korea earlier this year

• Magaziner accused Noem of not knowing “the difference between good and bad”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was questioned during a hearing today about her department’s controversial deportation practices.

Noem, 54, testified before the House on Thursday, December 11, about threats to national security, where she was asked by a representative about the deportation of military veterans by the Trump administration.

“Madame Secretary, how many US military veterans have you deported?” Rep. Seth Magaziner, a Democrat from Rhode Island, asked Noem during the hearing.

When she replied, “Sir, we have not deported American citizens or military veterans,” Magaziner began to express his respect for military members as a man sitting behind him stood up and brought up a tablet that featured a veteran calling into the hearing via video.

“As Americans, we owe everything to those who have served our country in uniform, particularly those who have served in combat. Do you agree with that?” Magaziner asked.

Noem began to say, “Sir, I believe that people who are in the United States who are citizens have legal status here—” before Magaziner interrupted to introduce the video guest.

“Madam Secretary, we are joined on Zoom by a gentleman named Sae Joon Park,” Magaziner said. “He is a combat veteran of the United States Army who was killed twice while serving our country in Panama in 1989.”

Magaziner said Park – a Purple Heart recipient – had struggled with PTSD and substance abuse issues after his time in combat, and had been arrested in the 1990s for “minor drug offenses.” NPR previously reported that Park was charged with possession of a controlled substance and bail jumping while battling a crack cocaine addiction.

Park has been sober for the past 14 years, the congressman told Noem, before saying, “Early this year, I deported him to Korea, a country he has lived in since he was 7 years old.”

Magaziner then asked Noem to join him to “thank Mr. Park for his service to our country.”

She responded by saying that she is “grateful for every single person who has served our country and follows our laws, and knows that our laws are important and every one of them needs to be enforced.”

When pressed to look into Park’s case, Noem said she “absolutely” would, but added, “Our programs need to have integrity, too.”

Magaziner continued his questioning when he introduced a Navy veteran named Jim Brown who is married to a woman who came to the United States from Ireland and has been living in the country for 48 years, but has been in prison for the past four months.

“She didn’t come here illegally, and she never committed a crime other than writing two bad checks totaling $80 ten years ago,” Magaziner said.

Noem argued that it was not “my prerogative, my latitude or my job to choose which laws in this country are enforced,” but Magaziner hit back by asserting that she has “broad discretion” as DHS secretary. When asked, she said she would review Brown’s wife’s case.

The Congressman also introduced a veteran whose father, Narciso Barranco, had been targeted by immigration agents over the summer and punched in the head. He asked Noem to consider offering parole to Barranco.

Magaziner continued to criticize Noem, telling her, “There are many problems with your leadership, but the biggest problem is this: You don’t seem to know how to tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys. Go after the bad guys, go after the terrorists, don’t go after veterans, Marines, children, US citizens.”

Noem reportedly left the hearing early, according to The Hill and The Washington Post, she claimed that she had to attend another meeting that had been cancelled. Noem’s office told The Hill that the secretary learned the meeting had been called after he left the witness table.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Noem has come under fire during her tenure at DHS for her attention-grabbing deportation tactics. Earlier this month, she said on X that she was discussing increasing travel bans with President Donald Trump.

Noem recommended “a complete travel ban on every damn country that is flooding our nation with murderers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”

Her post on December 1 came shortly after Trump, 79, said his administration planned to “permanently halt” migration from “Third World Countries”. He did not identify countries by name or clarify how he would implement the immigration pause.

Read the original article on People