WATCH LIVE: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks in Minneapolis

As Secretary Noem has highlighted, the safety and security of the American people is our top priority. HSI St. Paul is proud to play a leading role in advancing that mission, and we will continue to do so with the same determination and resolve that has defined our work thus far. Thank you. Good afternoon. Thank you, Secretary Noem, for your leadership and for taking the time to join us here today. Your presence underscores the importance of the work we do every day in service to the mission of the Department of Homeland Security and the American people. My name is David Easterwood. I'm the Acting Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, ERO St. Paul. I am honored to lead the officers and staff of ICRO across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska. The men and women of ERO St. Paul embody the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and dedication. Every day, they face complex challenges with determination and resolve, ensuring the safety of our communities, and the enforcement of our nation's immigration laws. Their work is critical to the security of the United States, and I am proud to lead such an outstanding team. Across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa, our efforts have made a profound impact. Whether it's apprehending criminal illegal aliens who pose a threat to public safety, managing detention operations with care and professionalism, or collaborating with federal, state, and local partners, our officers demonstrate every day what it means to serve with honor and dedication. As Secretary Nome has emphasized, our mission is clear, to protect the homeland, uphold the rule of law, and ensure the safety and security of the American people. As we move forward, I am confident that this team will continue to rise to the challenges before us. Thank you. Thank you, Sam and David. And this office has been focused on getting the worst of the worst off of our streets. The results that they have brought forward for this community and this city has been absolutely incredible. But as they talked about, they service not just Minnesota, but the surrounding region as well. And we pray every day for their safety when they're out doing their work, and that they would continue to have the support of the people who live here. So with that, we will open it up to any questions that you may have. You know, it's up to the President on if he believes that National Guard should be deployed to any situation in any city across our country. But we do have an increase of federal officers that will be coming. As you know, we had a big bill passed through Congress that allocated to us 10,000 new ICE officers across the country. We have received over 175,000 applicants for those jobs. So the first 1,200 to 1,500 are out in their offices now, have been trained and qualified and equipped, and are out there doing their work. We have thousands more in the next week or two that will be deployed to field offices as well. And this office will be the beneficiary of that as well. So you'll see dozens of new agents and federal officers here doing the work to get these criminals and terrorists off of our streets. I'm curious about the weapons and drugs that are being delivered. They were. I will let Sam talk about the specifics on each of these, but yes, these are all drugs and weapons that were seized from the operations that these law enforcement officers conducted here in this area. So I'll let you talk a little bit about specifics if you'd like to. I don't have a lot of specifics on them because obviously some of these cases are still ongoing in the courts. But the dope and the methamphetamines, the fentanyl, and the weapons seen here have been taken off the streets in Minneapolis and St. Paul between us and our federal partners. DEA, ATF, FBI, and everyone else that we work with. But they have been taken off the streets at some point in time throughout the year here. So this is not something uncommon to this area to see this. Madam Secretary, earlier this week or yesterday, Mayor Lurie of San Francisco said that he talked to you after President Trump said that he wouldn't be doing the federal. What did you tell the mayor? Is there still a chance that San Francisco could end up with federal enforcement? I did talk with the mayor of San Francisco and we talked about all of his efforts to bring some safety and security to the streets of San Francisco and that he had had a conversation with the president who said we would cooperate and help as much as we could. But that if he didn't get it under control, that we would move in. That we would bring in more support, potentially National Guard, Department of War individuals that would be able to help make sure that those people get the safety that they deserve as well. I'll tell you what, last night was not a good example of what the mayor is accomplishing and what the people in that area are accomplishing. To see this violent individual use a truck to try to break into our Coast Guard base and to ram those individuals and threaten the lives of the individuals who serve in our Coast Guard was horrific. And we won't stand for that anymore. I talked to the president about it just a couple of hours after it happened early this morning and the president said that was their one chance. That if they don't figure out how to protect our law enforcement officers and protect our Coast Guard members, that we would be forced to come in and protect those individuals. Listen, our Coast Guard as well has been out there doing a lot of this drug interdiction that you see across the country and across the world. They don't just have a search and rescue mission. They have a mission to go out there and do a lot of interdictions out in our maritime seas and are picking up tons of cocaine and fentanyl and meth that's being shipped in. Because our border is closed, these cartels and terrorist organizations are moving it through different methods. And so our Coast Guard has been absolute rock stars in being partners with ICE and ERO and HSI to make sure that we're not just bringing people to justice, but that we're also getting these deadly drugs off of our streets. We have saved millions of lives by doing operations like this and getting these drugs out of a system and keeping them away from our children. Right here. Are you able to elaborate further? Our new agents that will come to this region will continue to do the work that this office has done. They'll continue to go out and to not just go after the worst of the worst, but make sure that those individuals that are in this country illegally are brought to justice and deported. One thing I would remind everybody is that we've telegraphed this from the very beginning of the administration, is that if you're here illegally, go home. We will give you $1,000 cash, we will buy you a plane ticket, and you will get the chance to come back to America the right way. If you wait until we detain you and have to deport you, it may take you months to get there, to get through the due process of it, and then you will never get the chance to come back to America and to be one of our citizens and enjoy what is so special about this country. So, again, everyone should go download the CBP One app and be able to facilitate your flight and your payment, and we would like to get you back home to your country so that if you want to come back, you can do it the right way. Secretary, can you talk some more? It's been incredibly successful. The question is, is if it's been successful encouraging people to voluntarily go home? Absolutely. We have over 1.6 million people that have voluntarily deported, on their own, decided, you know what, I'm not going to wait until they come and find me and arrest me, I'm going to go home now and get the chance to come back. And many of these countries that they are coming from have set up different programs and training opportunities for them. You go to Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, many of these countries have training programs, housing loans that they will give to individuals who are returning back. They want them to be a part of their economy. Their situation has changed as well. Because America has enforced our borders, and we've worked with them so much, they're doing better, and their businesses are growing. So we would encourage people to continue to do that. Overwhelmingly, people understand now that it's different in the United States. Now we follow the law. Now we enforce the law, and now people are safe again. Secretary, can you go down here? Our agents always follow exactly what the law is and what the regulation and the protocol is for every single operation that they're out on. So they are always identifying themselves and making sure that people know who they are and why they're there. Our agents follow the exact same operational protocols and regulations and structure and law that they always have. Nothing has changed for how they operate, going out there and making sure they're detaining people that are here illegally, that have committed criminal activities, and that need to be removed from our country. Secretary Nelson, can you or Mr. Westbay provide some clarification on the two men on the posters behind you? Did they live in this area? When were they arrested? Any more details you can provide on them? Do you want to talk? I'd like to ask for a statement on this one. I've got some details, too. Let me, uh... Aldrin Guarnero-Munez was a Mexican who has been convicted of assault and homicide in 2004. He was arrested for first-degree assault, third-degree assault, and malicious punishment of a child. In 2005, convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 32 years in prison. In 2015, arrested for two counts of third-degree assault. In 2016, again convicted of third-degree assault and sentenced to 21 months in prison. And yes, the individual was arrested under this administration since President Trump has come in. The next one, Jose Hernandez-Rives, an El Salvadorian illegal alien convicted of human slavery and trafficking. In 2023, he was convicted of one count of labor or sex trafficking, which is a felony, and he was sentenced to 10 to 12 years of prison, again arrested with this administration. Now, I'll remind you that our detainers that we have on individuals here are not being honored by the state. So when an individual, we lodge a detainer against someone that's going to be released back out onto the streets, this state is not honoring those detainers, correct? Which means those dangerous criminals are released and we have to go out and find them. We wish this state would change their position on that. Francisco Garcia-Olivar, an illegal alien from Mexico, was convicted of sexual assault. In 2021, convicted of attempted sexual assault in the first degree and sexual assault on a child of the third degree and sentenced to 12 to 14 years in prison. And the last one is David Gonzalez-Rives, illegal alien from El Salvador, pending charges for assault, additional pending charges including drug possession, weapons possession, and also that includes a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon. Were they arrested here in Minnesota? Yes. One last question. Who wants to be the last one? Yes, sir. During the October 18th raid in Guadalajara, Idaho, multiple parents say that their children as young as 10 were zipped back from the force. Most of them were U.S. citizens who were later released. Does ICE have any policies on the treatment of minors? And if so, do you make sure that your partner agencies are aware of the rules? Absolutely. Those children, absolutely. That never happened. That's a fake story. That is not true. Children have never been zip-tied. And that will not happen in the future. Can you tell us whether you plan to increase immigration in terms of detainment here in Minnesota, including possibly entering a contract to use the correctional facility? I can't speak specific to a contract, but we are looking for more opportunities for detention partnerships here in the state of Minnesota. So we're looking a lot to state agreements, but also where the state isn't cooperative, such as Governor Walz has not been. I would say we're looking for sheriffs, local communities, smaller towns that may have the ability to help provide and partner with us, because they know so many of these individuals that are dangerous in their communities, and they can work with us to make sure that we're meeting not just their law enforcement needs, but also we're getting those people out of their area as soon as possible. Well, I think starting by calling our law enforcement officers Nazis and Gestapo would be just about the worst thing you could ever do. When you have someone who has taken an oath to give their life to defend communities and to defend this country and our Constitution, that's a horrible thing to say. And I haven't heard him apologize for it yet either. But if he would sign agreements with us to have our backs out on operations, that he would help with the safety and the security of our federal officers when they're out there protecting people, and making sure that we're focused on getting the worst of the worst off our streets as soon as possible, that would be absolutely wonderful. That would be a sea change that would be fundamental, because I don't know how he sleeps at night. I don't know how he goes to bed knowing that he's letting these people walk these streets and there could be more victims the next day. I hope that the next family who loses their child to the drugs that are on this table or illegal weapons that are on the streets doesn't have to put up with a governor like that. Thank you so much. Thank you everybody. Appreciate you. Thank you for coming. Thank you guys. Much appreciated.