need to know
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Homeland Security Chief Kristy Noem was questioned during a Dec. 11 hearing about a Purple Heart veteran deported by ICE.
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Rep. Seth Magaziner brought the veteran, Sai Joon Park, to Zoom’s hearing after he was deported to Korea earlier this year.
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The magazine accused Noem of not knowing “the difference between a good guy and a bad guy.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Noem was challenged during a hearing today about her department’s controversial deportation practices.
Noem, 54, testified before the House on Thursday, Dec. 11, about national security threats, where he was questioned by a representative about the Trump administration’s deportation of military veterans.
“Madam Secretary, how many United States military veterans have you deported?” Democratic Rep. of Rhode Island. Seth Magaziner asked Noem during the hearing.
When she replied, “Sir, we are not deporting American civilians or military veterans,” the magazine began to express her respect for military members as a man seated behind her stood up and brought a tablet called a veteran in the video hearing.
“As Americans, we owe everything to those who serve our country in uniform, especially those who serve in combat. Do you agree with that?” The magazine asked.
Noem began to say, “Sir, I believe that people in the United States who are citizens have legal status here—” before the magazine interrupted to introduce the video guest.
“Madam secretary, we have been joined on Zoom by a gentleman named Sai Joon Park,” the magaziner said. “He is a United States Army combat veteran who was shot twice while serving our country in Panama in 1989.”
The magazine said Park — a Purple Heart recipient — struggled with PTSD and substance abuse issues after his time in the fight, and was arrested for “minor drug offenses” in the ’90s. NPR previously reported that Park was charged with possession of a controlled substance and bail jumping while battling an addiction to crack cocaine.
Park has been quiet for the past 14 years, the congressman told Noem, adding, “Earlier this year, you deported him to Korea, a country he hasn’t lived in since he was 7 years old.”
The magazine asked Noem to join in “thanking Mr. Park for his service to our country.”
She responded by saying that she is “grateful for every person who serves our country and follows our laws, and knows that our laws are important and that every one of them needs to be enforced.”
Getty via Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu
Christie Noem attends the annual Christmas Tree Ship Arrival Ceremony of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw at Navy Pier on December 6, 2025 in Chicago.
When he pressed her to look into Park’s case, Nome said she would “absolutely” but added, “We also need to have truth in our programs.”
The magazine continued his questioning as he introduced a Navy veteran named Jim Brown, who is married to a woman from Ireland and has lived in the country for 48 years, but has been in prison for the past four months.
“She didn’t come here illegally, and she’s committed no crime other than writing two bad checks for $80 ten years ago,” the magaziner said.
Noem asserted that it’s not “my prerogative, my latitude or my job to pick and choose which laws apply in this country,” but the magazine asserted that he has “broad discretion” as DHS secretary. When asked, she said she would review Brown’s wife’s case.
Congress also introduced a veteran whose father, Narciso Barranco, was targeted and punched in the head by immigration agents over the summer. He asked Noem to consider offering Barranco parole.
The magazine criticized 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, United States citizens.”
Noem reportedly left the hearing early, according to The Hill and Variety The Washington Post, He claimed to attend the next meeting which was cancelled. Noem’s office told The Hill it learned the secretary left the witness table and canceled the meeting.
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Noem came under fire during his tenure at DHS for his attention-grabbing deportation tactics. Earlier this month, she told X that she was discussing increasing the travel ban with President Donald Trump.
Noem recommended “a total travel ban on every damn country that fills our nation with murderers, lice, and entitled junkies.”
His Dec. 1 post came not long after Trump, 79, said his administration planned to “permanently halt” immigration from “Third World countries.” He did not identify the countries by name or clarify how the immigration pause would be implemented.
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