Kristi Noem said she’s identified at least two of the people responsible for leaking information about Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeting illegal immigrants and is set to prosecute them.
One of the early victories of Donald Trump’s second presidency has been his work to fix the crisis at the border.
In a post to his Truth Social page, Trump said that in the last month his administration had recorded the lowest number of immigrants trying to enter the country ever.
However, in a clear attempt to subvert ICE and the White House, an internal government document that detailed a large scale raid scheduled in Los Angeles was leaked to the media in early February.
In a video released Friday, Secretary Noem confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security had identified two leakers.
‘We have identified two leakers of information here at the Department of Homeland Security who have been telling individuals about our operations and putting law enforcement lives in jeopardy,’ she said.
‘We plan to prosecute these two individuals and hold them accountable for what they’ve done.’
Noem finished by saying: ‘We’re going to continue to do all that we can to keep America safe.’
The identities of the leakers are yet to be revealed but a spokesperson for Noem told Fox News charges would be coming soon.
‘We are preparing to refer these perpetrators to the DOJ for felony prosecutions,’ Tricia McLaughlin said.
‘These individuals face up to 10 years in federal prison. We will find and root out all leakers. They will face prison time, and we will get justice for the American people.’
Both Noem and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan accused the FBI of recent leaks about upcoming ICE raids targeting illegal immigrants.
Noem was livid after the leaks and immediately went on the attack.
‘The FBI is so corrupt,’ Noem wrote on social media last month. ‘We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.’
The border czar claimed the information received so far ‘tends to lead toward the FBI’ during a shocking admission on Hannity.
He said anyone who leaks sensitive information about raids and target locations risks the lives of officers on the front lines.
‘It’s just not giving the bad guys a heads up… you’re putting officers lives at risk,’ he said.
‘It’s only a matter of time before there’s going to be a bad guy who doesn’t care, who is going to be sitting in wait for the officers to show up and ambush them.’
Homan revealed the Deputy Attorney General has launched a criminal investigation into the leak and has vowed to prosecute them.
‘They’ve promised not only will this person lose their job, their pension… they’ll go to jail,’ he said.
He said these authorities also believe the leak has come from within the FBI.
‘This is not a game,’ he warned.
FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration officers and agents had been called in to assist with the upcoming raid, reportedly scheduled to take place by the end of February.
It was supposed to target foreigners without legal status to remain in the United States, as well as anyone with pending orders of removal.
Authorities were requesting unprecedented multi-agency collaboration in order to achieve the targets.
Trump said in total there was 8,326 apprehensions by Border Patrol at the Southern Border.
He added that these people ‘were quickly ejected from our Nation or, when necessary prosecuted for crimes against the United States of America.’
The commander-in-chief added: ‘This means that very few people came – The Invasion of our Country is OVER.
‘In comparison, under Joe Biden, there were 300,000 Illegals crossing in one month, and virtually ALL of them were released into our Country.
‘Thanks to the Trump Administration Policies, the Border is CLOSED to all Illegal Immigrants.
‘Anyone who tries to illegally enter the U.S.A. will face significant criminal penalties and immediate deportation.’
His statement came after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirsti Noem announced that the administration had arrested 20,000 illegal aliens in one month.
Noem touted that as a 627 percent increase in monthly arrests, compared to President Biden.
She said: ‘President Trump and this Administration are saving lives every day because of the actions we are taking to secure the border and deport illegal alien criminals.
‘Hundreds of thousands of criminals were let into this country illegally. We are sending them home, and they will never be allowed to return.’
Trump’s stance is that all migrants in the US, without documentation, are criminals because they illegally entered or illegally remained in the country.
He vowed during his campaign to remove criminals from the country, labeling some migrants as the ‘worst of the worst’.
As his administration continues ramping up its crackdown on illegal immigration, some long-evading, at large fugitives are getting taken in after decades of delays.