Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem’s relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard has become strained during her first year leading the Department of Homeland Security. The rift is reportedly due to her request to focus on deportations over other duties, which upset senior officers.
In one instance on Feb. 4, a Coast Guardsman went overboard, and hours into the Pacific search, Noem reportedly ordered Admiral Kevin Lunday to pull a Coast Guard C-130 for a migrant flight. The Coast Guard found an alternative aircraft for the migrant flight, but the guardsman was never found.
In recent months, ICE Flight Monitor data shows over 750 Coast Guard flights were reassigned to deportations, straining aviation units, sources told NBC News. DHS guidance reportedly reorders priorities at Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento toward migrant transport, though a DHS spokesperson denied prioritizing migrants over search-and-rescue.
Coast Guard officials describe morale as “terrible” and say staff act as if they could be fired at any moment for refusing orders from Noem or other top staffers from the Department of Homeland Security.
