Homeland Security’s Kristi Noem highlights ICE arrests during Bradenton visit
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem used a visit to Bradenton on Monday to highlight recent arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to praise Florida law enforcement for cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Noem also took the opportunity to downplay concerns about President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, which critics argue have undermined due process, weakened U.S. protections for asylum seekers and led to an increase in racial profiling, among other concerns.
Standing beside seized firearms and drugs at the Department of Homeland Security’s local offices, Noem said ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officers have arrested more than 480,000 people identified as “criminal illegal immigrants” nationwide since January. She said about 70% of those individuals had criminal charges or convictions in the United States.
The agency did not immediately provide additional details about the arrests, such as how many occurred in Florida or how they define “criminal” — a term that can include people charged with nonviolent or immigration-related offenses.
“We are focused on the worst of the worst,” Noem told reporters. “We’re not going to let individuals terrorize our streets anymore and we’re not going to let them make victims out of families that live in this country.”
Noem praises Florida arrests
Noem named several people arrested in the Sarasota area who had prior convictions, including a Cuban national convicted of homicide and kidnapping, an El Salvadoran man convicted of sexual assault against a child and a Mexican national with prior convictions for lewd acts involving a minor and multiple DUIs.
“These individuals are just a handful of people that have been in this country creating victims out of American citizens,” she said.
Noem’s visit was part of a broader tour promoting the agency’s enforcement efforts and its cooperation with local law enforcement.
Noem praised Florida for what she described as the highest number of local law enforcement partnerships in the country through the 287(g) program, a federal initiative that allows local agencies to collaborate with ICE in identifying and detaining people suspected of being in the country illegally.
Supporters of the program say it helps keep communities safe by removing violent offenders. Critics, including immigrant rights groups and some local governments, have argued it can lead to racial profiling and erode trust between police and immigrant communities.
“The partnership here in Sarasota has been fantastic,” Noem said. “Florida has led the way in helping us bring individuals to justice.”
Outside, a group of about 10 protestors criticized those partnerships, holding signs that read, “Leave our neighbors alone” and “Stop pretending racism is patriotism.”
Noem encourages ‘self-deportation’
Noem, a longtime ally of Trump, has positioned herself as one of the administration’s most vocal defenders of its immigration policies. Monday’s appearance echoed similar visits she has made in other cities, such as Portland and Chicago, where she has praised Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement and criticized what she described as media “distortions” of federal efforts.
When asked what message she had for undocumented immigrants without criminal records, Noem said they could avoid detention by voluntarily leaving the country through a “self-deportation” program. She said participants receive $1,000 and a plane ticket home.
“Go home to your country and come the right way,” she said. “If they wait until we detain them and have to remove them ourselves, they will never have the chance to come back to America.”
Noem said she chose to visit the Bradenton area to spotlight what she described as positive examples of local law enforcement cooperation that receive little national media attention.
“I’m in Sarasota today because people don’t get to hear the media cover these individuals who have been removed from the streets,” she said.
Homeland Security initially said the press conference would take place in Sarasota, but it was relocated to a DHS office in Bradenton.
