Power Struggle Inside Trump's DHS Exposes Cracks in Deportation Machine

For three weeks now, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been playing an elaborate game of political geography—staying as far from Minneapolis as humanly possible. Last week found her in southern Arizona talking border walls. Yesterday, she was shouting drug seizure statistics over protesters in a California warehouse. Today, back to Arizona to pitch Trump's election legislation.

The frantic travel schedule tells a story that official statements won't: the killing of Alex Pretti three weeks ago has turned Noem from Trump's immigration enforcer into a political liability scrambling for relevance.

When Loyalty Meets Reality

The Minneapolis operation was supposed to showcase Trump's deportation prowess. Instead, it became a textbook case of how quickly political capital can evaporate. Federal agents killed two U.S. citizens, detained children, and created daily chaos that sent Trump's approval ratings tumbling on what he considers his strongest issue.

Trump's response was swift and telling: he dispatched Tom Homan, the White House "border czar," to take control in Minnesota. The message was clear—Noem's approach had become more hindrance than help.

Publicly, Trump maintains his support for Noem and dismisses resignation calls. But behind closed doors, White House officials express growing frustration with her performance. Republican midterm strategists are raising alarms about political damage. One person familiar with internal discussions put it bluntly: Noem's position "is no longer secure."

The Lewandowski Factor

At the center of DHS's dysfunction sits Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager who operates as Noem's de facto chief of staff despite having no official position or salary. His role as a "special government employee" running day-to-day operations has created a parallel power structure that veteran immigration officials increasingly resent.

Since Pretti's death, Tom Homan, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, and other enforcement veterans have gained upper hand over the Noem-Lewandowski duo. When ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons testified before Congress this week and was asked whether Noem should resign, his response was telling: "I'm not going to comment on that, sir."

No defense. No deflection. Just silence.

The $38 Billion Detention Empire

While Noem faces internal challenges, the deportation machine continues expanding. New Hampshire officials today published an ICE memo outlining a $38.3 billion plan to construct eight "large-scale detention sites" with capacity for up to 10,000 detainees each, plus 16 processing facilities.

The memo describes a "new detention model"—converting warehouses into windowless mega-jails over the next seven months. ICE plans to phase out private prison contracts in favor of building its own facilities, including some in Democratic states with large immigrant populations but limited ICE infrastructure.

The numbers are staggering: from 39,000 detainees when Trump took office to planned capacity for more than 92,000 people in ICE warehouses.

Election Infrastructure Theater

Noem's Arizona appearance today revealed another dimension of her predicament. Election officials and their attorneys grew apprehensive as word spread of her visit, worried about a "Georgia-like event" after FBI agents had seized 2020 election materials in Fulton County just two weeks ago.

The buildup was dramatic—reporters were transported in a convoy of unmarked vehicles racing up Phoenix freeways at over 75 mph, driven by federal agents in tactical gear watching for "bad actors."

The payoff was anticlimactic. Noem arrived 40 minutes late to deliver a dry lecture on election integrity, calling Arizona's voting systems "an absolute disaster" while Lewandowski lurked mostly hidden behind a wall.

The Shutdown Paradox

Democrats are poised to shut down DHS this weekend, demanding concessions on immigration enforcement. Ironically, this won't much affect Trump's deportation campaign. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July included $170 billion for immigration enforcement—nearly three times DHS's annual budget. ICE alone got $75 billion in supplemental funding.

DHS could remain shuttered for Trump's entire term and still see a net funding increase. But other department functions—cybersecurity, election infrastructure, weapons of mass destruction prevention—face furloughs. TSA officers will work without pay while the deportation machine hums along fully funded.