Kristi Noem in Michigan touts deportations, urges GOP to unite after Kirk

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke Friday at Mackinac Island gathering of Republicans
Noem urged conservatives to unite after Charlie Kirk’s death, calling the assassination a ‘sea change’
Noem highlighted her work on deportation efforts and addressed questions on the northern border and ice storm damage requests

MACKINAC ISLAND — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urged Michigan Republicans to come together in the aftermath of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death, saying the assassination is a “sea change” for the country.

Speaking at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference on Friday evening, Noem said she felt a “heaviness” after Kirk, a right-wing activist who brought President Donald Trump’s message to a younger audience, was killed Sept. 10 during an event at Utah State University.

“We can use this as an opportunity to have a unity in our country that we’ve never experienced, or at least we haven’t felt in decades,” Noem said.

Kirk’s assassination has prompted widespread condemnation and rallies in Michigan and nationally. Some Michigan Democrats have said the death has led to threats against them, while Trump has promised reprisals against the “radical left.”

Security at the Mackinac Island conference was tighter than in years past.

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Speaking to reporters before the speech, Michigan Republican Party Chair Jim Runestad said he’s never seen the Republican base more galvanized than in the aftermath of Kirk’s death.

Ahead of the conference, Democratic officials were critical of Noem and other Republican leaders making appearances on the island.

“Republicans are actively making your lives harder and more expensive,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said.

Deportation strategy

During her speech, Noem highlighted her work spearheading the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation tactics and increased investment in law enforcement.

“We need to make sure that as we’re making these big decisions and securing our country and getting criminals and illegal aliens and dangerous individuals out of our communities, that we’re willing to go talk about and tell people…what we’re doing, and why it’s important to our future,” Noem said.

Noem told the crowd she’s encouraged by preliminary results of her department’s marketing strategy to encourage unauthorized immigrants to self-deport, reiterating the administration’s claims that 1.6 million people have chosen to leave the country rather than risk deportation.

The fact-checking website PolitiFact earlier this month found the claim to be premature based on preliminary government data, noting there has likely been a decrease in the unauthorized immigrant population but that the initial data was based on a survey with a small sample size and large margin of error.

Noem also claimed the increased deportations has saved the country money, though preliminary research shows the effort could come at a cost.

An analysis by the Penn Wharton University of Pennsylvania estimates that significant investment in deportation of unauthorized immigrants could add billions to the federal budget deficit and reduce the nation’s GDP.

Northern border

Asked by an audience member about her work on the US-Canada border, Noem reiterated her agency’s intention to increase security, citing “huge Coast Guard investments” to prevent Great Lakes border crossings.

There were 13,697 encounters between authorities and unauthorized immigrants at Michigan’s border with Canada last year — a small fraction of the 2.9 million encounters reported nationally, according to federal data. Michigan border encounters were down 46% in the first five months 2025.

The Trump administration has pointed to drug trafficking at both the northern and southern borders as a motivator for initial tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China.

Fentanyl crosses the US-Canada border, but in far smaller amounts when compared to the US-Mexico border.

In all, less than 1% of fentanyl comes across the northern border, according to federal statistics. Almost 96% was intercepted in the southwest border.

US Customs and Border Protection reported stopping 43 pounds of fentanyl from entering the US last fiscal year, while Canadian officials reported seizing 14 pounds of fentanyl at the US border, according to the Detroit News.

In contrast, some 9,200 pounds of fentanyl overall were seized in the US from October to August.

Ice storm aid

Noem was also questioned about aid to individual households for those impacted by the ice storm that rocked northern Michigan months ago.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is housed under Noem’s agency, limited federal aid to state and local governments, tribal governments and certain nonprofit organizations.

But it prevented residents and utilities impacted by the storm from directly seeking government assistance, a decision Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is appealing.

Noem acknowledged the appeal, but did not provide an update or indicate whether FEMA would change course. Instead, she said Trump believes the agency needs to be reformed to ensure when a disaster happens, the federal government can “deploy the dollars as soon as possible to give those local leaders an opportunity to make sure that it is spent.”