Noem confronted by House Democrats, including about allegedly removing veterans from U.S.

House Democrats pushed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for answers on the Trump administration's immigration operations during a hearing Thursday on worldwide threats, with Rep. Seth Magaziner confronting her with a veteran on Zoom who he said had been issued a removal order.

Magaziner, a Democrat from Rhode Island, cited cases of veterans and military families facing removal or prolonged detention. After Noem said no veterans have been deported. Magaziner featured one such veteran, Sae Joon Park, over Zoom. In June, the U.S. Army veteran and green card holder self-deported to South Korea after Magaziner said he was issued a removal order related to drug possession charges and failure to appear in court from over 15 years ago. 

"You say you're going after the worst of the worst — violent criminals who are breaking our laws," Magaziner said in an extended exchange, before adding that records and media reports show ICE has arrested tens of thousands of people with no criminal convictions, including U.S. citizens and longtime residents with deep ties to the military. Magaziner argued that deporting veterans and their families "is not what the American people think they signed up for" when they hear Noem's talking points about hardened criminals.

Noem pushed back, insisting her department is enforcing the law as written and that those unhappy with recent deportations should direct their anger at Congress, not the Department of Homeland Security. At one point during the hearing, she bristled that lawmakers were berating her for following statutes they themselves wrote, saying if they don't like the outcomes, they should "change the law."

The panel's ranking member, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, opened the hearing with a scathing personal rebuke of the DHS secretary before urging her to resign from her post.

"Instead of deploying homeland security grants to protect churches and synagogues, you handed your friends a $220 million contract so they could follow you around the country with a camera," Thompson claimed in an apparent reference to a Pro Publica report. Thompson accused Noem, who currently resides in a military home typically reserved for the U.S. Coast Guard's top admiral, of living "rent free in a taxpayer-owned property that is supposed to be reserved for military leaders." 

"Every penny that you spend on yourself represents the blood, sweat and tears of hardworking Americans who expect their tax dollars to be spent on homeland security, not promoting you and your interests," Thompson said. 

The ranking member later pressed Noem on who gave asylum to the Afghan national who has now been accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington, D.C. "Your D.H.S. approved the asylum application," Thompson told her. Noem repeatedly said that the vetting of the suspect occurred during the Biden administration.

During the questioning, Thompson called the shooting an "unfortunate accident," prompting Noem to fire back that it was "a terrorist attack." 

Following the Nov. 26 attack, the Department of Homeland Security halted processing of Afghan visas and froze decisions on asylum applications. The administration has also indefinitely suspended entry for foreign nationals from 19 countries "of concern" that were included in President Trump's travel ban. 

Noem left the hearing early, at about 12:08 p.m., to attend another meeting. 

But Thompson, the ranking member, claimed that the meeting that Noem left early for was canceled. 

"To add insult to injury, I'm told that when she left, she did not leave the building. She went to the anteroom," Thompson said, explaining that Noem had left early for a FEMA Review council meeting. "I understand on good information that the FEMA council meeting was canceled. So there was no need for her to go. She was a liar with no respect for congressional oversight," he added. 

A DHS spokesperson told CBS News that Noem learned at 12:26 p.m. — 18 minutes after leaving the congressional hearing — that her other meeting was cancelled.

Thompson moved for her to be subpoenaed, but the motion was tabled by Republicans.