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The worst of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem's many terrible moments in last week's congressional hearings on immigration control probably came when she admitted to being unfamiliar with the shockingly appalling case of Marimar Martinez.
She is the Chicago woman who managed to survive being shot five times by Border Patrol agents in October, leaving her with nerve damage in her right hand.
Yet, as Noem, dubbed "ICE Barbie" by some for her love of posturing in front of media cameras, was pushed by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, to acknowledge that the shooting was "wrong" during a heated Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, ignorance was her defense.
"Sir, I don't know that situation or the case," Noem replied. "I'll look into it to ensure that all procedures were followed properly…."
How likely is it that Noem had not looked into the case surrounding Martinez'shooting last Oct. 4, especially in light of the embarrassing details that came to light as the Justice Department attempted to prosecute the victim?
Some of those details were in evidence in the Senate hearing room, including posters bearing the text messages exchanged by Martinez' shooter, Border Patrol agent Charles Exum, bragging: "I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys."
Got that, "boys"? Sounds like the government's immigration enforcers have been going after anyone who looks as though they might, just might, be an undocumented newcomer, whether they happen to be here illegally or not. And the boss isn't going to check your work.
In her 13 months leading the Department of Homeland Security, Noem managed to cut quite a media figure. In May, just months into the job, she visited an infamous prison in El Salvador, to which her department had deported Venezuelan immigrants. Posing with flowing locks and perfect makeup in front of caged gang members clad only in their underwear, Noem sent a message that would be hard to decode as anything other than a taste for authoritarian kink.
Homeland Security agents under her authority would go on to conduct brutal and legally dubious round-ups of immigrants (and Americans who look like them) in a succession of U.S. cities. They would shoot and kill at least four U.S. citizens, including the two in Minnesota, one in California and one in Texas.
Others, like Martinez, would be lucky to survive their wounds. Noem's minions would defy and frustrate federal judges seeking basic information from DHS about the department's compliance with court orders.
As DHS operations inspired mass political protest, and tanked President Donald Trump's polling numbers, Noem faithfully parroted the administration's talking points, continually characterizing immigrants as dangerous and protesters as terrorists, and Trump stood by her. Yet their relationship came crashing down Thursday when Trump unceremoniously fired her. Or, rather, demoted her to U.S. Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, whatever that is.
Noem had been caught in a lie in testifying about $220 million of taxpayer money she spent on TV advertising.