Kristi Noem Told Coast Guard to Abandon Search Mission to Use Plane for Her ‘Alien Expulsion Operations’

Less than a week after the Wall Street Journal published an exclusive about how Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem allegedly threw a first-class tantrum over a misplaced blanket and consequently almost cost a Coast Guard pilot his job, more of the military branch’s members have spoken out to discuss how much she sucks. 

At least two U.S. officials, a Coast Guard official, and a former Coast Guard official told NBC News on Tuesday that Noem’s relationship with the military branch is becoming increasingly strained, especially as she continues to abuse the agency to fulfill her anti-immigration agenda. (The Coast Guard is the only army branch overseen by the Department of Homeland Security.) “You never know what’s going to happen,” one of the sources said, adding that morale among troops is “terrible.” Per the outlet:

Noem’s leadership at DHS has created a specific split in the Coast Guard. Many rank-and-file members are motivated by her approach, in which she showcases their work by joining them on operations and visiting their ships. Some more senior officials, however, see that approach as taking away from the Coast Guard’s traditional missions.

The dynamic with more senior officials has only worsened in recent months as Noem oversaw a tenfold increase in the use of the Coast Guard’s aircraft for immigrant deportations, which has strained its limited resources, the sources said. The increase was captured in data compiled by ICE Flight Monitor, a nonprofit group that tracks deportation flights.

Sources said tensions began pretty much immediately after she became DHS Secretary, when she reportedly tried to divert resources from an ongoing search-and-rescue mission for a 23-year-old Coast Guard seaman, Bryan Lee. In January 2025, Lee fell off a ship in the Pacific Ocean and had been missing for days when his fellow Coast Guard members used a C-130 aircraft to find him. But Noem allegedly pushed to have the aircraft reassigned to her so-called “Alien Expulsion Operations,” according to NBC News, so it could transport migrants across states. According to sources, Coast Guard leadership managed to find an alternative aircraft so the search could continue. Lee was ultimately never found. 

“The primary mission was search and rescue,” one of the sources told NBC. “Now the No. 1 stated mission of the Coast Guard is border security—that is a cultural change that the culture hasn’t quite caught up to.” 

According to a DHS spokesperson, the aircraft “never left the search,” and there’s no proof that it was ever diverted, despite what various sources said. “The entire premise of your story is incorrect, and these attacks are nothing more than a politicized deep state effort to undermine President Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda and distract from the historic successes that the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard have achieved since he returned to office,” they told NBC News. Hmm. DHS defending themselves by saying something didn’t happen? And then saying it’s all just an attack on Trump? Color. Me. Surprised. 

Even less surprising than the DHS lying is the crescendo of impeachment calls surrounding Noem, who’s been squirming under more pressure ever since two Americans were shot and killed by ICE goons under her unhinged anti-immigrant agenda. I hope her morale is terrible!

---