How an evangelical mum from a town of 100 became one of the most powerful women in the US
Kristi Noem has dominated news headlines and social media feeds following the shooting deaths of two US citizens at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis this month.
Democrats are calling for her impeachment and even some Republicans have broken rank to speak out against her handling of the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
But US President Donald Trump is standing by his Secretary of Homeland Security, who spent her formative years in a town of about 100 people and entered politics without a university degree to her name.
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Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has become a divisive figure in US politics, but Trump is standing by her - for now. AP
Here's how an Evangelical Christian from a farm in South Dakota become one of the most powerful women in the US.
Who is Kristi Noem?
Born Kristi Lynn Arnold on November 30, 1971, Noem was raised on a family ranch in Hazel, South Dakota, a town of about 100 people.
She enrolled at Northern State University in 1990 and married Bryon Noem in 1992.
In 1994, her father died in a farming accident and Noem left university without graduating to take over the family farm.
She and her husband welcomed their first child, a daughter named Kassidy, that year.
Noem expanded the family business and had two more children, daughter Kennedy in 1997 and son Booker in 2004, before turning her attention to politics.
Now 54, she's also a grandmother.
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Noem entered politics in 2008, after running her family farm and welcoming three children with husband Bryon Noem. Getty
Kristi Noem's politics
Noem first won a seat as a Republican in the South Dakota House of Representatives in 2006 and was re-elected in 2008.
In 2010, she won South Dakota's seat in the US House of Representatives and served in Congress until 2019.
Noem also finished university while serving in Congress; she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in political science from South Dakota State University in 2012.
In 2019 she was elected the first female Governor of South Dakota and in late 2024, Trump announced she would be his new Secretary of Homeland Security.
Noem identifies as an Evangelical Christian, which has been seen to influence her political views.
She's staunchly anti-abortion, pro-gun, opposes subsidised childcare and same-sex marriage, and has helped develop anti-protest legislation.
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Noem sparked outrage when she used detainees as a backdrop during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center in El Salvador in 2025. AP
Noem's immigration policies have been divisive.
Since becoming Secretary of Homeland Security, she's focused primarily on deportation and empowering ICE and Border Patrol agents to remove as many immigrants from the US as possible.
She claimed to have removed "more than 2.5 million illegal aliens" from the country in 2025, though that figure could not be independently verified.
Furthermore, legitimate US citizens have been detained and deported under Noem, and two US citizens have been shot and killed by ICE agents in the last month alone.
Good was unarmed when an ICE agent shot her dead on January 7 as horrified witnesses, including her wife, watched on.
About two weeks later, Pretti was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent after a scuffle in the street.
Noem characterised both victims as domestic terrorists and claimed her agents acted appropriately to defend their own lives.
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Kristi Noem's relationship with Trump
Noem appears to enjoy the support of the Commander in Chief, who told reporters she was "doing a very good job" this week.
Just a day prior, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Secretary of Homeland Security has Trump's "full confidence".
But that hasn't stopped speculation that Noem could fall out of his favour.
Her handling of ICE operations in Minnesota, including the shooting deaths of two people, have been criticised from Democrats and Republicans alike recently.
Top Republicans are distancing themselves from the situation, with some openly questioning Noem's recent conduct.
They've taken particular issue with her suggesting Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti, who was shot dead by ICE officers, was a domestic terrorist without a thorough investigation.
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Democrats have called to impeach the Homeland Security Secretary and some Republicans have openly questioned her actions. AP
"Officials who rush to judgment before all the facts are known undermine public trust and the law-enforcement mission," Utah Senator John Curtis said.
"I disagree with Secretary Noem's premature DHS response."
Despite the blowback, Trump appears to be standing by his Secretary of Homeland Security.
Calls for Kristi Noem's impeachment
House Democratic leaders are now calling for Noem to be removed.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar said the violence she has unleashed on the US people must end in a statement.
"Kristi Noem should be fired immediately, or we will commence impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
They also pushed for her to be brought before the House Judiciary Committee to answer for the ICE shooting deaths of Good and Pretti on her watch.
"Federal agents have shot dead two American citizens in the past two weeks for doing no more than exercising their fully protected rights to protest, observe and record law enforcement in public," Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote in a letter.
"The American people are outraged by these cold-blooded killings, and we demand accountability."
Raskin went so far as to claim that Noem and the Homeland Security Department were attempting to "cover-up" the shootings.
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Kristi Noem's books
Noem has written three books to date:
Noem's latest book, published in 2024, sparked outrage over a chapter about Noem killing a dog. Hachette
- By God and Granite: Mount Rushmore, Our Founders, and the Defense of American Greatness, published in 2021
- Not My First Rodeo: Lessons from the Heartland, published in 2022
- No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward , published in 2024
Her third book sparked outrage over a section where she admitted to killing a young dog she had attempted to train for hunting birds.
In the book, Noem recalls how Cricket, a 14-month-old wirehair pointer, had an "aggressive personality" but wasn't a suitable hunting dog.
She went "out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life" on a hunt and later attacked and killed another family's chickens.
"I hated that dog," Noem wrote of Cricket, whom she described as "less than worthless … as a hunting dog".
So she took Cricket out to a gravel pit and shot her dead, then shot a "nasty" goat on her farm as well.
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