Kristi Noem’s obsession with tactical photo ops may finally catch up to her.
The Secretary of Homeland Security—was physically present at an ICE raid in Elgin, Illinois this week that led to the wrongful detention of two U.S. citizens. The high-profile raid, part of her so-called “Operation Midway Blitz,” took place on Mexican Independence Day and was widely publicized by Noem herself on social media.
Now, legal experts say Noem could be subpoenaed over the debacle.
Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney and current legal analyst for NBC and MSNBC, didn’t mince words. In her Civil Discourse newsletter, she called Noem’s participation “dangerous” and warned that her involvement on the ground opens the door to legal action.
“Noem, too, should be concerned about the security risk her presence creates,” Vance wrote. “Furthermore, if Noem accompanied agents to the scene, as the reporting indicates, she made herself a witness. If I’m a criminal defense lawyer for one of the men or a plaintiff’s lawyer in a civil suit, I’m cutting the subpoena for her testimony pronto.”
“This is why smart prosecutors know better than to go along when a search warrant is executed, let alone an attorney general or a Cabinet secretary,” she added. “But Noem likes her photo ops.”
And she certainly does. Noem, frequently mocked online as “ICE Barbie” for her fondness for military cosplay during enforcement actions, has leaned hard into the optics. On Tuesday, she posted footage of herself flanked by armed, masked agents, declaring she was “on the ground in Chicago” as officers went after “the worst of the worst.”
But among those detained were two American citizens—men who, after being cuffed and held at gunpoint, were released only after showing ID.
One of them, 37-year-old Joe Botello, a Texas-born U.S. citizen, told the Chicago Tribune that he was stunned by the raid.
“I’m just blessed that I’m still alive,” he said. “I’ve been hearing it and seeing it through social media. But it never crossed my mind that it was going to happen here at the house… where I live.”
CBS News confirmed a second U.S. citizen was also detained during the same operation. Both were released after agents confirmed their citizenship. Still, neither DHS nor Noem acknowledged the error in their public statements.
In fact, DHS later told the Daily Beast that the men were never “arrested,” and were simply detained “for their and officers’ safety,” calling it “standard protocol.”
Critics aren’t buying it. To them, this wasn’t a careful law enforcement operation—it was a political stunt that backfired badly.
Noem’s highly publicized “Operation Midway Blitz” has already drawn skepticism for its theatrical nature. But now, with innocent Americans caught in the crossfire—and a possible subpoena on the table—her presence at the raid could shift from PR gold to legal liability.
This time, the cosplay may have gone too far.
Watch the report below from CBS News Chicago:
