South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, faced senators on Friday as Trump's Cabinet nominees faced grillings this week.
Noem, who backed Trump's 2017 Muslim travel ban and, in 2021, said she would deliver razor wire to the Southern border, said at the hearing she would help reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy and eliminate the CBP One app, which allows migrants to schedule appointments with border officials.
During the hearing, as she explained her concern about security threats posed by immigration, Noem shared a false claim about migrant criminals, which the president-elect has repeatedly made.
The Claim
At Kristi Noem's Senate confirmation hearing, held on Friday, January 17, 2025, Noem claimed that more than 13,000 murderers and nearly 16,000 sex offenders who had crossed the U.S. border were "loose" in the country.
"We've had over 13,000 murderers that are loose in this country that have come over that border; we've had almost 16,000 rapists and sexual assault perpetuators [sic] that are loose in this country right now," Noem said.
The Facts
This claim was repeated throughout the Trump presidential campaign and is incorrect.
It is based on figures sent to Texas Republican Representative Tony Gonzales last year from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) listing "non-detained" noncitizens on its docket, including 13,099 non-citizens with murder convictions and 15,811 with "sexual assault" convictions.
The interpretation that these people were "loose" may have come from the term "non-detained." Reposting the letter on X, formerly Twitter, in September 2024, Gonzales wrote, "Americans deserve to be SAFE in our own communities."
However, being non-detained does not mean these people were roaming the country, as per a statement by the Department of Homeland Security in response to the letter.
"The data in this letter is being misinterpreted," the Department of Homeland Security said
"The data goes back decades; it includes individuals who entered the country over the past 40 years or more, the vast majority of whose custody determination was made long before this administration. It also includes many who are under the jurisdiction of or currently incarcerated by federal, state, or local law enforcement partners."
Newsweek reached out to a media representative for Noem via email for comment.
The number of migrants with criminal histories detained by ICE is also limited by its available bed space. As reported by Newsweek, as of September 2024, ICE had 37,684 immigrants in custody at its sites across the United States, a small percentage of the 7.6 million migrants on ICE's docket.
In the letter sent to Gonzales, ICE Deputy Director Patrick J. Lechleitner said that ICE's detention capacity was 41,500.
As reported by The Washington Post in October 2024, many criminals on the list convicted of serious crimes are shipped to other facilities to serve their terms. Others may have already served their term.
The Ruling
False.
Noem repeated a falsehood that Trump shared during the 2024 presidential campaign. There are not more than 13,000 murderers or nearly 16,000 sex offenders "loose" in the U.S. Her statement is based on a misinterpreted letter sent by ICE in late 2024.
ICE listed non-detained noncitizens with criminal convictions on its docket. While this included people with criminal convictions, it meant they were not detained by ICE, which has limited detention facilities. Per a statement sent by the Department of Homeland Security, the data spanned decades and included convicts serving their sentences in prison or other law enforcement facilities.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
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About the writer
Tom Norton is Newsweek's Fact Check reporter, based in London. His focus is reporting on misinformation and misleading information in ... Read more