Noem's full name is Kristi Lynn Arnold Noem and she was born in 1971 in Watertown, in east central South Dakota. The city is in Codington County about 187 miles northeast of the state's capital Pierre. The new Secretary of Homeland Security is married to Bryon Noem.

The job has proved fiendishly difficult in the Trump era. During his first term, the president cycled through no fewer than six Homeland Security chiefs.

Noem said some non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which receive millions in federal grants, have been facilitating illegal immigration by helping aliens cross the U.S. border.