10 Photos of Kristi Noem: 'Disaster' DHS Secretary Faces Resignation Calls Over ICE Tactics And Disaster Aid Delays

In the grey, early morning of 7 January 2026, on a residential street in Minneapolis, 37-year-old Renée Nicole Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent. She was a US citizen, a mother who had just dropped her child off at a dual-language school, and her death has become the lightning rod for a national reckoning.

The tragedy did not just ignite a wave of protests across the United States; it has intensified a fierce political storm centred on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. To her critics, Noem is no longer just a controversial cabinet member; she is the face of a 'disaster' that stretches from the snowy streets of the Midwest to the storm-ravaged mountains of North Carolina.

The Human Cost of Aggressive ICE Tactics

The calls for Kristi Noem's resignation reached a fever pitch this Tuesday when Representative Deborah Ross joined a growing chorus of Democratic colleagues demanding her removal. Ross, who represents North Carolina's Second Congressional District, did not mince her words, describing Noem as a 'disaster' whose leadership has actively endangered American citizens.

The Minneapolis shooting, which federal officials claim was an act of self-defence after Good allegedly 'weaponised her vehicle', has been met with deep scepticism. Eyewitness accounts and viral video footage appear to contradict the official narrative, suggesting a more chaotic and aggressive encounter.

For Ross, the violence in Minneapolis is a symptom of a broader, more systemic failure. She cited 'Operation Charlotte's Web', a high-profile enforcement push in North Carolina where masked agents descended on cities like Charlotte and Raleigh.

Ross argued that these tactics have terrorised law-abiding citizens, with agents reportedly 'abducting people off the streets based on the colour of their skin'. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released statistics showing a 1,347% increase in assaults against ICE officers in 2025 compared to the previous year, critics argue that this data is being used to justify an 'unprecedented and indiscriminate' enforcement culture.

According to a YouGov poll taken after the Good shooting, 51% of Americans now describe ICE tactics as 'too forceful', while 56% of independents expressed disapproval of the agency.

Bureaucracy and Betrayal in Disaster Aid Delays

While the immigration crackdown has sparked ideological warfare, it is the 'disaster aid delays' in Western North Carolina that have turned the tide for many local leaders. More than a year after Hurricane Helene devastated the region, thousands of families remain in a state of 'limbo'.

Under Noem's oversight of FEMA, reconstruction efforts have been plagued by what Governor Josh Stein described as an 'unacceptable' thicket of red tape.

The frustration is particularly acute because of a policy requiring Noem's personal sign-off for any disaster payment exceeding $100,000. In a region where the storm caused nearly $60 billion in damages, this bureaucratic bottleneck has left homeowners paying mortgages on properties that are no longer habitable.

'Noem is personally responsible for slowing the flow of federal aid dollars,' Ross stated, noting that families who lost everything have been forced to wait months for the help they need. As of late 2025, the state had requested $18.9 billion in federal assistance, but only roughly $4.7 billion has been approved or sent—barely a quarter of the total required to rebuild the mountain communities.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has described Noem as 'completely and totally unqualified', even hinting at impeachment proceedings should the political winds shift in the 2026 midterms.

For the people of Minneapolis mourning a mother and the residents of North Carolina still sifting through the wreckage of a hurricane, the demand for change is no longer about partisan politics; it is about a basic loss of trust in the institutions meant to protect them.