Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined federal authorities Tuesday for the first deportation raids in New York City under President Trump’s clampdown — lauding ICE for getting “dirtbags off the streets.”
The newly confirmed DHS secretary was driven between various locations in an armored Bearcat SWAT vehicle while boasting about the successful pre-dawn operation on X and sharing images of herself wearing a protective ICE vest, surrounded by heavily armed officers.
Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem sits with ICE officials Tuesday. DEA New York
Noem wears a protective vest during a briefing with law enforcement agents ahead of immigration raids in the city Tuesday. @Sec_Noem via REUTERS
ICE raids in New York City started on Tuesday.
“We are doing this right — doing exactly what President @realDonaldTrump promised the American people — making our streets safe. Live this AM from NYC. I’m on it,” Noem wrote just before 5 a.m.
Noem, 53, later shared footage of one of the first raids, saying it showed “a criminal alien with kidnapping, assault & burglary charges” and thanked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for putting the suspect away.
Noem takes a ride with ICE officers as they raid sites in The Bronx early Tuesday. @triciaOhio
Noem is set for a raid. @triciaOhio“Dirtbags like this will continue to be removed from our streets,” she added.
Noem also shared several images of heavily equipped and armed officers in a post thanking DHS, ICE, the Secret Service, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, US Marshals and the NYPD Special Operations unit for their roles.
Later Tuesday, CBS News showed more footage of the deportation raids, including Noem out in the field with federal law enforcement agencies giving them a pep talk.
Other videos showed the feds taking a suspected Venezuelan gang member into custody and also showing up at another home, but leaving empty-handed.
Federal law enforcement wants to round up 500 people during its Big Apple operation this week, CBS News reported.
Noem insisted during an interview with CBS that three dozen law enforcement officers involved in the operation that led to a handful of arrests was an acceptable ratio.
“I won’t doubt what they need for support,” she said of the manpower.
Noem vowed the Trump administration would have enough officers to boot potentially 1 million illegal migrants per year.
“Well, we’ll have the personnel because we’re gonna continue to recruit and ask people to help us,” Noem said.
The federal government is faced with limited cooperation from the NYPD as a result of sanctuary laws, but Noem said Mayor Eric Adams has been “fantastic.”
“In fact I talked to him on the phone probably four or five times last night,” she said. “One of these individuals was so dangerous that we needed the backup of the NYPD to be there in case things went south.”
Adams has said he is willing to work with the Trump administration to capture criminal migrants.
–Additional reporting by Joe Marino
