WATCH: Sen. Scott questions Noem about refugee admissions, humanitarian parole in hearing
January 17, 2025
1,886
15
0.80%
Search the Record
IndexedEvery word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
Amna Nawaz Episodes Around January 17, 2025
See what was published immediately before and after this episode.
2:13Now PlayingWATCH: Sen. Scott questions Noem about refugee admissions, humanitarian parole in hearing
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelSen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., questioned homeland security secretary nominee Kristi Noem in a confirmation hearing Friday held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Scott asked about Noem’s role in improving the communication between state and local law enforcement and the federal government when refugees are relocated to the states.
Scott claimed that governors aren’t given enough information about these refugees, citing the 70,000 Afghans who have received humanitarian parole after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. He said the tens of thousands of Afghans were “completely unvetted.”
Though both refugee status and humanitarian parole allow individuals to enter the U.S., only the former designation grants people who face legitimate fears of returning home a pathway to permanent residency in the U.S. Humanitarian parole grants temporary permission to live in the U.S. and must be renewed by a presidential administration every two years.
Noem agreed with the senator, saying the communication between states and the federal government has been “absolutely broken.”
Noem added that, as governor, the previous administration “kept us in the dark” about the refugees being placed in states, saying there was a lack of communication about the individuals.
“That is something that we need to change when we have programs that fall under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security. There needs to be communication, especially with the governor, so that we can coordinate to ensure that it's the right thing for that state,” she said.
Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, is a rancher and a former member of Congress. A close ally to Trump, Noem has called migration across the U.S. southern border “an invasion.” If confirmed, Noem would play a key role in carrying out his promised immigration crackdown by leading the Department of Homeland Security, one of the largest federal agencies.
Newsletters
PBS News podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app
Find more from PBS News at
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Guests & Subjects Covered
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.