U.S.-Canada border threat growing, Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem says in Detroit

Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press
Sat, June 21, 2025 

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in Detroit on Friday, June 20, that more members of international gangs are trying to enter the United States through the northern border with Canada, now that the southern border with Mexico has been made more secure.

Noem did not provide statistics but said more members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, which President Donald Trump has designated as a terrorist organization and which has ties to El Salvador and other countries in Central America, have been trying to enter the United States from Canada in recent months. Her department did not immediately respond to an emailed request for relevant statistics.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem smiles and waves at a crowd of people as Republican U.S. Rep. John James claps during a Northern Border Policy Roundtable hosted by America’s Future Tour at The Norwood in Detroit on Friday, June 20, 2025.Less

"We are not letting our guard down at the northern border," because the country is only as secure as its weakest border link, Noem told about 300 people at a lounge and events venue in Detroit's New Center area, at a "Secure Our Northern Border" event hosted by the conservative group America's Future.

"They're finding new ways to get into the country," Noem said in reference to members of international criminal gangs.

Noem, who was the Republican governor of South Dakota from 2019 until early this year, has taken on a high-profile role in the administration's attempt to follow through on Trump's election promise to launch the largest deportation of undocumented immigrants in the nation's history.

Aggressive immigration enforcement actions have prompted protests in cities around the United States, though there were no demonstrators outside The Norwood, on Woodward Avenue, for the June 20 event.

Noem said in a post on X on June 20 that 75% of those arrested in immigration enforcement actions under Trump have been either convicted of, or charged with, a crime.

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Others dispute that number. Mother Jones reported in February that in order to meet arrest targets of 1,200 per day or more, officials have had to cast a much broader net than those facing or convicted of criminal charges. Of 7.6 million immigrants on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s national docket for potential deportation, only about 8% have a conviction or pending charges, the magazine reported, based on ICE data.

The U.S. Border Patrol said on May 30 it had arrested an MS-13 gang member at the Maine border with Canada, in what it said was the second arrest of a confirmed MS-13 gang member in that district this fiscal year.

U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, who participated in the panel discussion with Noem, Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy and others, said Michigan is "at the epicenter of the northern border crisis" and fentanyl smuggled from Canada is killing Americans.

From left tor right, James Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan, David Flute, senior tribal adviser for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, listen to Patty Morin speak during a Northern Border Policy Roundtable hosted by America’s Future Tour at The Norwood in Detroit on Friday, June 20, 2025.More

Though the United States and Canada share many economic and other important ties, the United States needs Canada to take its border security more seriously, James said.

Noem said that former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was "a train wreck" who wouldn't cooperate with the United States on helping to vet those entering the United States from Canada or providing information about their criminal backgrounds.

"We are really hopeful that the new leader, Prime Minister Mark Carney, will be a different individual," Noem said.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kristi Noem: Criminal gangs shifting efforts to U.S.-Canada border