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According to reports from CNN, former President Donald Trump has selected South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), though no official announcement has been made yet.

The selection aligns with Trump’s emphasis on strict immigration policies, coming alongside the appointments of immigration hawks Stephen Miller as White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Tom Homan as Border Czar.

“With his selection of Noem, Trump is ensuring a loyalist will head an agency he prioritizes and that is key to his domestic agenda,” CNN reported.

The agency, which operates with a $60 billion budget and employs hundreds of thousands, experienced significant leadership turnover during Trump’s previous term, with five different leaders, only two receiving Senate confirmation.

Noem’s potential appointment comes with controversy surrounding her recently published book, which revealed she euthanized her hunting dog Cricket for being “untrainable.” She defended this revelation as demonstrating her ability to handle difficult tasks when necessary.

If confirmed, Noem would replace Alejandro Mayorkas, whose tenure saw approximately 10.8 million inadmissible encounters reported by CBP since Fiscal Year 2021, with nearly 3 million under his direct oversight.

Current statistics from ICE Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner’s report to Congressman Tony Gonzalez reveal concerning figures: over 662,000 illegal immigrants with criminal histories are on ICE’s national docket, while DHS tracks more than 425,000 convicted illegal immigrants and 226,000 facing criminal charges who have been released into the United States.

Among these numbers are 13,000 individuals convicted of homicide and over 15,000 convicted of sexual assault, all currently free in American communities due to the administration’s “catch and release” policy.