Noem Came to Nogales - Reality Stayed

Most of Voices From the Border's work happens without attention. It is people showing up, day after day, to respond to urgent needs along the border.

Last week, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem came to Nogales with cameras in tow for political theater. She staged a press conference, handed out awards, and took no questions from reporters.¹ Voices From the Border joined others in protest.

Noem held her event steps from the border wall, but the people who actually govern Nogales weren't on the guest list. Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, the chief law enforcement officer of the county where Noem stood, wasn't invited. In a statement to the media, he didn't hold back:

"Kristi Noem is a coward and is afraid to face the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the county where she did her disingenuous briefing. Neither she, nor her staff, invited me to her briefing or informed me where it was being held. She did, however, invite the Trump-supporting Sheriff from the neighboring county of Cochise. Noem was obviously afraid that I would refute her false claims about crime rates in this safe border county."²

The claims Noem made tell one story. The truth tells another.

Fiction: Aggressive enforcement is making border communities safer.

Fact: Local leaders describe the opposite. Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva, whose district includes Santa Cruz County, called the visit "a publicity stunt, plain and simple," adding that Noem "continues to push for militarization, treating border communities like war zones rather than places where families live, work and thrive."³ Mayor Maldonado noted that fear from heightened ICE activity has hurt local businesses.⁴

Fiction: Noem credited border enforcement for lower crime rates.⁵

Fact: Crime rates have been declining since 2021, years before Trump took office.⁶ The Council on Criminal Justice attributes the drop to "a complex tangle of broad social and technological changes," not border policy.⁷

Fiction: Noem said, "The laws need to be enforced and they need to be applied equally to every single person."⁸

Fact: The administration's enforcement targets immigrants, who commit crimes at significantly lower rates than U.S.-born citizens. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found undocumented immigrants are roughly half as likely to be arrested for violent crimes as native-born Americans.⁹ The president enforcing these very policies was himself convicted of 34 felonies in May 2024 and received no jail time, fines, or penalties.¹⁰

Government visits like this shape public narrative and signal policy direction. Voices From the Border represents the perspectives of people who see the impact of these policies firsthand.  Noem's Nogales spectacle ended, but our work continues.

Sources

1. AZPM, "Noem visits border east of Nogales, praises Trump," Feb. 4, 2026. https://news.azpm.org/p/newsheadlines/2026/2/4/228322-noem-visits-border-east-of-nogales-praises-trump/

2. Caló News, "Protesters 'welcome' Kristi Noem during her visit to the Nogales border," Feb. 5, 2026. https://www.calonews.com/arizona/protesters-welcome-kristi-noem-during-her-visit-to-the-nogales-border/article_bb82cd6d-d782-4375-9605-3c025ab2e159.html

3. KTAR, "AZ Democrats react to Kristi Noem's secure border comments," Feb. 4, 2026. https://ktar.com/immigration/kristi-noem-border-accomplishments/5817275/

4. KOLD 13 News, "Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visits Nogales, presents Border Patrol agents with awards," Feb. 5, 2026. https://www.kold.com/2026/02/05/homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem-visits-nogales-presents-border-patrol-agents-with-awards/

5. AZFamily, "Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visits southern Arizona border," Feb. 4, 2026. https://www.azfamily.com/2026/02/04/homeland-security-secretary-kristi-noem-visits-southern-arizona-border/

6. Axios, "U.S. murder rate hits lowest level since 1900, report says," Jan. 22, 2026. https://www.axios.com/2026/01/22/murder-rate-century-low

7. Council on Criminal Justice, "Crime Trends in U.S. Cities: Year-End 2025 Update," Jan. 2026. https://counciloncj.org/crime-trends-in-u-s-cities-year-end-2025-update/

8. KGUN9, "DHS Secretary Kristi Noem visits southern border," Feb. 4, 2026. https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/santa-cruz-county-news/dhs-secretary-kristi-noem-visits-southern-border

9. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "Comparing Crime Rates Between Undocumented Immigrants, Legal Immigrants, and Native-born US Citizens in Texas," Dec. 2020. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2014704117

10. PBS NewsHour, "How Trump avoided punishment for his felony convictions," Jan. 10, 2025. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-trump-avoided-punishment-for-his-felony-convictions