Kristi Noem Shares Heartbreaking Open Border Stories the Media Refuses to Tell [WATCH]

Border Czar Kristi Noem spoke about border enforcement and immigration policy during remarks addressing the work of the Department of Homeland Security and the impact of illegal immigration on American communities.

Noem began by explaining why she agreed to take on the role and what she expected from the position.

“I’ve had people ask me over and over again, you know, Christy, why did you say to President Trump that you would do this job? And I said, because this is going to be a difficult job. It’s going to be a hard job. We’re going to have to secure our border and make sure we’re going after dangerous, criminal illegals and remove them from our country.”

Here’s What They’re Not Telling You About Your Retirement

She said the position requires daily decisions focused on enforcing the law and ensuring consequences for those who break it.

“And every day, we’re going to have to make tough decisions to uphold the law, but to make sure that the consequences for breaking the law are put in place as well.”

Noem said one of the most difficult parts of the job has been hearing stories from families affected by crimes committed by individuals who were in the country illegally.

“The one thing I would say is I wasn’t quite prepared for was the heartbreaking stories I would hear, the families that have lost their children, their brothers and their sisters, to dangerous people that came into this country that never should have been here to begin with.”

This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year

She described one case involving a victim named Rachel Warren.

“I heard one story I never forget hearing Rachel Warren’s mom tell the story of how she was killed, and just listen to a mom talk about how her daughter was slammed into her head exploded, and then he raped her and left her dead when knowing that Rachel had five kids too, that now didn’t have a mom anymore, and that that individual should have never been in this country.”

Noem said stories like that are the reason she continues working on immigration enforcement.

“So the reason that I do this job every single day is for that is that somebody has to do the right thing and tell the stories of these families and make sure that we don’t sit around here and make political pot shots on falsehoods and lies like I just heard from the ranking member, that instead, we do the right thing to defend these families and remember their children.”

During her remarks, Noem referenced families who have lost loved ones in crimes tied to individuals in the country illegally.

“Behind me are families with children,” she said before reading off a list of victims

She also highlighted the story of a child named Dalilah .

“And we are still very best blessed to have little miss Dalilah with us. Dalilah is right behind me, and she and I are good friends, and she was hit by a vehicle, by a truck that was driven by someone who is in this country illegally and had an illegal CDL.”

Noem said the accident should not have occurred.

“That accident should have never happened, because he never should have been in this country, and he certainly shouldn’t have been behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler.”

She said Dalilah and her family continue to speak publicly about the incident.

“But she’s still with us, and she’s doing good, and she’s telling her story with her dad and her family and continuing to make sure that we do the right thing here on Capitol Hill.”

Noem also described the mission of the Department of Homeland Security.

“Listen, the Department of Homeland Security was established after the attacks on 911 It was established to defend our homeland and put all the agencies together that have that mission, and that’s what we do each and every day.”

She said protecting American citizens remains the department’s primary responsibility.

“We make sure that we enforce the law and that we protect our homeland and the families that live here, the American citizens, are our number one priority.”

Noem outlined statistics related to immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s first year back in office.

“For 10 straight months, Border Patrol has released zero illegal aliens into this country in President Trump’s first historic year back in office, over 3 million illegal aliens have left our country.”

She said many individuals left voluntarily.

“We’ve arrested 700,000 of them and detained them and removed them from the country, but over 2.2 million of them left voluntarily.”

Noem attributed the voluntary departures to an outreach campaign informing individuals that immigration laws would be enforced.

“You know why? Because we told them to we marketed to them. We ran a media campaign. Was it was the most effective media campaign in the history of this country.”

She said the departures resulted in financial savings for taxpayers.

“$39 billion of taxpayer savings because those people left and got off of our programs, and we didn’t have to deport them at a cost of $18,000 a piece.”

Noem also discussed arrests tied to national security concerns.

“Ice has arrested over 1500 known or suspected terrorists, 1500 that Joe Biden let in over that open border during that invasion that we found and we’ve removed.”

She said the department is also focused on locating children who were trafficked across the border.

“Mr. Chairman, Joe Biden lost 450,000 children that they allowed the cartels to traffic over the border, they used them, they abused them.”

Noem said some of those children have been located.

“We have found 145,000 of them, but I’m not going to stop until we find them all.”

She also pointed to reductions in drug trafficking.

“Fentanyl trafficking over the southern border is down 56% because of President Trump.”

Noem said enforcement efforts have stopped large quantities of drugs from entering the United States.

“1.7 lethal doses of drugs have been stopped from coming into our country in the last year.”

She concluded by saying the work to secure the border will continue.

“Mr. Chairman. I could go on and on, but I look forward to the conversation today, and I look forward to continuing to fight for America. Thank you. I yield back.”

WATCH:

Warning: Account balances and purchasing power no longer tell the same story. Know in 2 minutes if your retirement is working for you.