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Homeland Insecurities

A bracing conversation with former D.H.S. secretary Jeh Johnson about the realities of mass deportation, Trump sending troops to L.A., the handcuffing of Senator Alex Padilla, and America “being pushed to a breaking point.”

Jeh Johnson
Given that incident and the more sweeping events playing out in L.A. that set the stage for it—Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and Marines to deal with protests there against his deportation agenda—it seemed an apt time for a chat with one of Noem’s predecessors, Jeh Johnson. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
John Heilemann
June 17, 2025

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Created by George W. Bush in the aftermath of 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security consolidated all or part of 22 federal agencies, including two—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (C.B.P.) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—that reach deeply into the lives of America’s ever-vulnerable and oft-vilified immigrant population. C.B.P. and ICE have become immensely controversial in recent years, particularly those in which Donald Trump occupied the Oval Office, and especially since January, when Kristi Noem took over as Trump’s D.H.S. secretary.