Donald Trump fires Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem, one of Donald Trump's biggest political cheerleaders, has been fired from her position as Department of Homeland Security secretary.

For 13 long and controversial months, the 54-year-old has taken the lead on Trump's approach to mass deportation, which resulted in thousands of illegal immigrants being forcibly removed from the US.

The programme has also been defined by increasingly violent raids on immigrant communities, which themselves sparked nationwide protests that have resulted in the deaths of at least eight demonstrators by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Amongst the victims were intensive care nurse, Alex Pretti, and mother-of-three Renee Goode, who were fatally shot by border force agents in Minneapolis just weeks apart.

Noem led Trump's mass deportation programme (ALEX BRANDON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Justifying their deaths at point-blank range, Noem baselessly slammed the innocent protestors of 'domestic terrorism'.

As a reminder, the outgoing secretary is also one of the brains behind the construction of several detention camps across the country, the structure and sanitation of which have been called into question by critics all over the world.

Trump announced Noem's exit from the position on Truth Social on Thursday (5 Mar), claiming she'd 'served us well' since his right-wing administration returned to office in January of last year.

The Republican leader simultaneously announced that 'the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin' would assume the DHS secretary position 'effective March 31, 2026'.

Noem has repeatedly justified the increasingly-violent ICE raids across America (Kerem YUCEL / AFP via Getty Images)

"The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida," Trump continued.

"I thank Kristi for her service at 'Homeland'."

According to The Independent, Noem learned she'd been fired by the 79-year-old minutes before appearing at a law enforcement conference in Nashville on Thursday. She opted not to address her exit during the conference, however.

Noem will be replaced by Markwayne Mullin (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Later, she took to X to thank Trump, claiming she is looking forward to working alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth until her departure, to 'dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren'.

Noem continued: "The Western Hemisphere is absolutely critical for U.S. security. In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security."