Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responded Wednesday about the men arrested in connection to the theft of her purse in D.C. and said the arrests fit into her immigration crackdown.
Noem’s purse with about $3,000 cash inside was stolen as she dined with her family on Easter.
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WATCH HEREOver the weekend, Secret Servicer agents arrested two men suspected in connection to the theft at Capital Burger in Northwest D.C.
Both men are undocumented immigrants who will now face immigration charges in addition to those connected to the theft, the interim U.S. attorney for D.C. said.
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SIGN UP Court documents allege the man arrested in D.C. on Saturday stole Noem’s purse and had committed three similar crimes in the city days earlier. NBC New York reports he was arrested for a similar crime there.
A second man was arrested in Miami on Sunday in connection to the purse theft and charged with possession of a stolen or fake driver’s license.
At an event Tuesday attended by the newly installed head of the Secret Service, Noem expressed confidence in him. Her Secret Service detail was feet from her in the restaurant at the time of the alleged theft.
“I would also say that my experience was just a little bit of what the American people have been living with for years. The American people have been living in communities where they've been victimized by illegal criminal aliens, and the perpetrators of the crime against me had done this dozens of times to people across this country, over and over and over again, from city to city,” Noem said.
“I'm thankful they're off the streets. I'm thankful that they're now going to face the punishment for their crimes. And it gives me new motivation, and the president new motivation every day, to continue to do the work that we're doing, and that is cleaning up America and making sure that we're getting it safe again for the families who live here,” she continued.
The men were charged with a handful of crimes, not dozens. NBC News reported on several studies showing there has not been a migrant-driven crime wave, immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes and cities with recent influxes of immigrants did not experience a rise in crime.
The interim U.S. attorney for D.C. told NBC News he does not think Noem was targeted because of her position.
