Deported veteran challenges Noem after she claims no former troops were forced out

Kristi Noem was confronted by a deported veteran after she insisted that no former US military personnel had been removed from the country under the Trump administration. During a House hearing on Thursday (11 December), Rep. Seth Magaziner questioned the Homeland Security secretary on the deportation of combat veteran Sae Joon Park, who appeared in the hearing via video call. Mr Magaziner said Mr Park had struggled with PTSD and substance abuse, and was arrested in the 1990s for “minor drug offences”. Mr Park told NPR that he self-deported back to South Korea following a meeting with ICE officials in June in which he was warned that he would be detained and deported if he did not voluntarily leave. After Mr Magaziner asked Noem to “thank Mr Park for his service to our country”, she said she would “absolutely” look into the veteran’s case.