She has flown a plane, ridden a quad-bike, taken command of a patrol boat—and never been seen without make-up.
Now Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has taken ICE Barbie to a new level, driving a SWAT vehicle, posing with a rifle and questioning a prisoner—all captured lovingly on camera for her social media.
Her latest photoshoot and a law enforcement crossover came Tuesday in Phoenix, Arizona, where 100 federal agents detained a grand total of three migrants, accompanied by Noem, her photographer, a MAGA blogger, The New York Post and, intriguingly, Corey Lewandowski, her alleged on-off lover.
ADVERTISEMENT
During the raids, Noem was reported by the Post to have been at the wheel of BearCat armored SWAT vehicle, which weighs 8.5 tons and is usually only permitted to be driven by trained personnel.
She even had what was presented as a close call when one migrant lifted his foot in an apparent attempt to kick her—or at least shield himself from the cameras Noem and her crew shoved in his face.
“You’re not scaring me with your Croc,” she snapped at a restrained suspect who lifted his foot at her.
A video of the interaction was posted to X by “Libs of TikTok,” a far-right social media account run by Chaya Raichik. She was one of the several cameras filming Noem during her photoshoot with the handcuffed Jose Escobar-Robles.
“This illegal was so mad he was getting arrested so he tried blocking us and hiding with his CROC(sic),” Raichik posted.
Raichik also got a close-up of Noem leaning into the car and asking the detained individual: “Do you understand the charges against you?”
It was just the latest photo-op for Noem, who has made a habit of joining front-line operations while wearing photo-perfect outfits.
She was first ripped by social media in February for “cosplaying” in a cowboy hat and fake eyelashes during an interview at the southern border.
In late March she modeled alongside Coast Guard firefighters, pilots, and maritime response teams, decked out in both the branch’s official uniform and bright pink lipstick.
She then went viral for filming remarks in a dystopian El Salvadoran mega-prison complex while wearing a $60K Rolex watch, using dozens of incarcerated shirtless prisoners as a backdrop.
Other photos of Noem‘s stunt on Tuesday were featured in an exclusive article published by The New York Post, headlined: “Kristi Noem dodges kicks from migrant suspect as she leads ICE deportation raids in Phoenix.”
The article said she’s ”not afraid to get her hands dirty.“ She reposted it on X Tuesday and added the caption “Make America Safe Again.”
Noem wears dangly pearl earrings and multiple rings while posing with agents. Her perfectly manicured nails are curled around an AK-47 in several of the shots.
In what looked like a Vogue cover, Noem is also seen basking in the sun, perfectly posed, as her hair flows down around her shoulders.
Noem claimed that the effort of cooperation between agencies is “getting turned onto steroids,” all part of Trump’s mass crackdown on illegal immigration.
“We’ll be sweeping them up faster than we ever have before,” she told The Post.
The three suspects that Noem nabbed Tuesday included Bonifacio Renteria-Cruz, Jose Escobar-Robles, and Luis Garcia-Sanchez, all of whom the DHS claimed were connected to cartels or gangs.
The latter told Noem that he was no longer affiliated with the LA-based street gang “18th Street” and that he was a grandfather now.
The 61-year-old also told Noem that he had three kids and that he didn’t wanted them growing up in gangs.
“Go deal with the consequences of breaking the law here,” she told him.
Noem’s ambush comes a day after the Supreme Court permitted Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a rarely used law that allows the president to rapidly deport enemy combatants partaking in “irregular warfare.”
“If you’ve been here longer than 30 days and haven’t registered with the government, we are now coming after you criminally,” Noem said during the raid.
Fines for remaining migrants are now up to $1,000 per day, she said, adding that federal agencies can now do anything in their power to “make sure American citizens are the only ones afforded the rights of being in this country.”
