Governor Kristi Noem speaking with attendees at the 2020 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
By Jordan Gerard | State Affairs
Just feet away from the border wall, wind and dust whipped around a stage laden with at least 14 American flags while country music blared from the speakers as a prelude to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit to Nogales, Arizona.
Noem, along with officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol, travelled to the southern border town to boast of President Donald Trump’s accomplishments on immigration.
“In President Trump’s first year back in office, we’ve delivered the most secure border in American history, and we did it with the immediate aftermath we’re facing from that humanitarian crisis that was created from Joe Biden’s open border policies,” Noem said. “It is so quiet here now today that sometimes we even forget how bad it was just a little over a year ago.”
She continued to say that CBP recorded the lowest number of encounters in the agency’s history in 2025, which is true, according to the Pew Research Center.
“The high degree of talent and experience that we have here today is a testament to not just President Trump’s commitment, but also to the people that have secured the border and have also worked every single day to make sure that America is safe again,” she said.
