Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem discovered herself within the scorching seat on Capitol Hill on Thursday, defending herself from Democrats who sharply questioned the Trump administration’s hardline immigration actions.
In a single notable trade, Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., requested Noem if DHS had deported any army veterans — and she or he mentioned the division has not.
Magaziner then referred to a pill with a person named Sae Joon Park on the display screen, becoming a member of the listening to by Zoom.
Rep. Seth Magaziner speaks throughout a Home Homeland Safety listening to entitled “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland,” whereas Sae Joon Park, a Purple Coronary heart adorned U.S. Military veteran who self-deported to South Korea because of a elimination order, joins the listening to by way of a video name, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
Magaziner mentioned Park is a Purple Coronary heart recipient who was shot twice whereas serving with the U.S. Military in Panama in 1989, who was deported to Korea by the Trump administration.
“Like many veterans, he struggled with PTSD and substance abuse after his service,” Magaziner mentioned. “He was arrested within the Nineties for some minor drug offenses, nothing severe. He by no means damage anybody apart from himself, and he is been clear and sober for 14 years.”
When requested if she would thank Park for his service, Noem responded to the congressman, “Sir, I am grateful for each single individual that has served our nation and follows our legal guidelines.”
Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem testifies earlier than the Home Committee on Homeland Safety within the Cannon Home Workplace Constructing on Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
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A Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson later mentioned Magaziner failed to say that Park had a legal historical past, though the congressman did deal with that in his remarks.
“In 2010 an immigration choose issued him an order of elimination. Park’s attraction to the Board of Immigration Appeals that very same month was dismissed by the Board in April 2011,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin mentioned within the assertion. “With no authorized foundation to stay within the U.S. and a last order of elimination, Park was allowed to self-deport to Korea.”
In response to a query from Magaziner, Noem dedicated to reviewing Park’s case.
Magaziner additionally launched a army veteran named Jim Brown, from Troy, Missouri, who was sitting within the gallery behind Noem. Browns’s spouse — a local of Eire — has lived within the U.S. for 48 years earlier than being detained and going through deportation, the congressman mentioned. Her solely legal file was writing two unhealthy checks totaling $80 a number of years in the past, Magaziner mentioned.
