Kristi Noem

Secretary of Homeland Security

Confirmed as Secretary of Homeland Security. Oversaw the department responsible for ICE, CBP, and FEMA. Under her leadership, ICE detention deaths hit a two-decade high, sensitive locations protections were rescinded, and FEMA disaster preparedness was dismantled.

Linked Incidents

10 Total incidents
1 War Crime / Crime Against Humanity
4 Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern
5 Serious Rights Violation
3 probable 5 potential 2 enabling
Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation to Torture
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing Reported record

Record ICE Detention Deaths and Medical Care Payment Halt

46 deaths in ICE custody since January 2025 mark a two-decade high. ICE's October 2025 halt of medical care payments left detainees without access to health services as the detention population reached record levels, creating conditions that contributed to preventable deaths.

  • 46 people have died in ICE custody or detention facilities since January 2025 — a two-decade high, with 2025 seeing the highest death rate (5.6 per 10,000 detainees) since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
  • ICE halted payments to medical care contractors in October 2025 after the VA terminated a longstanding reimbursement agreement, leaving detention facilities without funded medical services.
Sources
8
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation & Immigration
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Official executive action

Rescission of ICE Sensitive Locations Policy — Churches, Schools, and Hospitals Open to Raids

The rescission of the sensitive locations policy removed decades-old protections for churches, schools, hospitals, courthouses, and shelters from immigration enforcement. The change unleashed a dramatic surge in arrests of non-criminal immigrants and chilled access to essential services including healthcare and education.

  • On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration rescinded the DHS Protected Areas policy via executive order 'Protecting the American People Against Invasion,' removing protections for churches, schools, hospitals, courthouses, shelters, and childcare facilities from ICE operations.
  • Arrests of people with no criminal record surged 2,450% in Trump's first year — from 6% of ICE detainees in January 2025 to 41% by December 2025.
Sources
7
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Federal Dismantlement
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Official executive action

FEMA Dismantlement — Budget Cuts, Mass Layoffs, and Destruction of Disaster Response Capacity

A systematic effort to dismantle federal disaster preparedness and response capacity through budget cuts, mass layoffs, program terminations, and structural reorganization. FEMA's workforce has already shrunk by one-third, with plans to cut it in half. The disaster response workforce faces a 41% cut and the surge workforce an 85% cut, leaving the country dangerously unprepared for hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and other disasters.

  • FEMA's workforce shrank from approximately 29,000 to 23,000 in 2025 — a loss of one-third of its staff since Trump's second term began.
  • The proposed FY2026 budget cuts FEMA by $646 million. Plans call for a 50% total workforce reduction, a 41% disaster response staff cut, and an 85% cut to the surge workforce that deploys after major disasters.
Sources
8
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing Active litigation

Systematic Elimination of Bond Hearings and Indefinite Immigration Detention

An ICE directive and BIA precedential decision eliminated bond hearings for millions of immigrants, creating a system of indefinite detention without judicial review. 71.7% of the 57,861 ICE detainees had no criminal convictions.

  • On July 8, 2025, Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons issued a memo declaring that immigrants who entered without inspection are no longer eligible for bond hearings.
  • On September 5, 2025, the BIA ruled in Matter of Yajure Hurtado that immigration judges lack authority to conduct bond hearings for anyone present 'without admission' -- even those who have lived in the US for decades.
Sources
6
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated November 10, 2025 Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing Reported record

Surge in Solitary Confinement in Immigration Detention

10,500+ people subjected to solitary confinement in immigration detention over 14 months, with usage surging under the Trump administration. Nearly 75% of placements exceeded the UN's 15-day torture threshold. DHS oversight offices were simultaneously decimated from 150 to 22 staff.

  • Over 10,500 people were placed in solitary confinement in immigration detention centers between April 2024 and May 2025.
  • The monthly rate of solitary confinement use under the second Trump administration was twice the rate from 2018-2023 and more than six times higher than during the end of the Biden administration.
Sources
7
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation & Immigration
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Ongoing Reported record

Deportation and Medical Neglect of Pregnant Women in ICE Custody

ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in 13 months and recorded 16 miscarriages in detention. Women were shackled while miscarrying, denied prenatal care, and subjected to invasive procedures without consent -- all in violation of ICE's own 2021 directive against detaining pregnant individuals.

  • 363 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing immigrants were deported between January 1, 2025 and February 16, 2026.
  • 16 miscarriages were recorded in ICE custody by late September 2025.
Sources
7
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Civil Rights
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Official executive action

Expanded Travel Ban Targeting Up to 39 Countries, Predominantly Muslim and African Nations

A sweeping expansion of travel restrictions targeting predominantly Muslim-majority and African nations, growing from the original first-term ban to cover 39 countries. The bans affect millions of people and have been widely characterized as religious and racial discrimination codified into immigration policy.

  • On June 4, 2025, Trump issued a proclamation restricting entry from 12 countries (Afghanistan, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen) and partially restricting 7 more (Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela).
  • In December 2025, the ban was expanded to fully restrict entry from 7 additional countries: Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria — plus people with Palestinian Authority travel documents.
Sources
7
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated June 12, 2025 Deportation & Immigration
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Judicial finding

Termination of CHNV Humanitarian Parole for 532,000 People

DHS terminated humanitarian parole for 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, stripping legal status effective April 24, 2025. The Supreme Court allowed the mass revocation in a 7-2 ruling, and DHS urged affected individuals to 'self-deport immediately.'

  • Approximately 532,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela had been granted humanitarian parole under the CHNV programs established in 2022-2023.
  • DHS published a Federal Register notice on March 25, 2025 terminating all CHNV parole, with parole expiring April 24, 2025.
Sources
6
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 13, 2026 Deportation & Immigration
Serious Rights Violation Ongoing Active litigation

Mass Termination of Temporary Protected Status Across 11 Countries

TPS was terminated or targeted for termination across 11 countries, de-documenting over 1 million people. Federal courts have blocked or paused several terminations. The State Department maintains 'Do Not Travel' advisories for many of the same countries DHS claims are safe for return.

  • 1.6 million people lost their legal right to stay in the United States in 2025 across all TPS and parole terminations -- the largest mass de-documentation in US history.
  • TPS was terminated or targeted for 11 countries: Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Syria, Somalia, Myanmar, and Ethiopia.
Sources
7
Documents
0
Updates
0
Updated March 25, 2026 Deportation to Torture
War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Ongoing Active litigation

Guantanamo Bay Immigrant Detention: Solitary Confinement and Torture Conditions

Immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay face conditions amounting to torture: 23+ hour solitary confinement, punishment chairs, physical abuse, and incommunicado detention. ACLU and CCR lawsuits challenge the offshore detention as unconstitutional and beyond the authority of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

  • Approximately 500 immigrants transferred to Guantanamo Bay Migrant Operations Center since January 2025, with executive order calling for expansion to 30,000-person capacity.
  • Detainees held in solitary, windowless cells for 23+ hours per day, constantly shackled, subjected to invasive strip searches and a 'punishment chair' for hours as punishment.
Sources
7
Documents
2
Updates
0