Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced that her office has received a record number of applications during the first year of the new Trump administration.
.@Sec_Noem on @DHSgov's record-setting year under President Trump: "Just at @ICEgov, we had over 220,000 applications for 10,000 openings. At, @USCIS, we've had tens of thousands of applications. @SecretService applications have more than doubled." 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5UPyLwbxCc
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 1, 2026
“The people at the Department of Homeland Security in law enforcement are so excited that they get to do their jobs,” Noem told Fox & Friends on Sunday. “They’re so proud to work for a president that is strong, that is decisive, and that wants to make America safe and enforce our laws again.”
“Just at ICE we’ve had over 220,000 applications for 10,000 openings,” Noem continued. “At USCIS, we’ve had tens of thousands of applications. Secret Service applications have more than doubled.”
Noem believes that Trump’s America First agenda and emphasis on strong borders has been the catalyst for the surge in applications to her department. She emphasized that border protection was essential to national security and the safety of the American people.
“We’ve got people in every department that are asking to come and work for the Department of Homeland Security because they recognize that we want to defend the homeland, that a country with no borders is no country at all, that people who live here and our citizens deserve safety on their streets, and that we deliver a response of protection of our critical infrastructure and relief to states when they face disasters through FEMA as well,” Noem said.
“It’s a vast department with a lot of responsibilities — 23 different agencies all tasked with keeping people safe, and that is exactly what President Trump is doing,” Noem concluded.
Noem has been the target of a large push by Democrats and some moderate Republicans to reign in the Homeland Security's enforcement of immigration law.
Trump has strongly defended the department head, indicating that her popular work on removing dangerous criminals from American cities will continue without interference.