Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem found herself in the Capitol dock on Thursday, defending herself against Democrats. who harshly questioned the Trump administration’s hardline immigration actions.
In a remarkable exchange, Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., asked Noem if DHS had deported any military veterans, and she said the department had not.
Magaziner then referred to a tablet with a man named Sae Joon Park on the screen, joining the audience over Zoom.
Rep. Seth Magaziner speaks during a House Homeland Security hearing titled “Global Threats to the Homeland,” while Sae Joon Park, a Purple Heart-decorated U.S. Army veteran who self-deported to South Korea due to a deportation order, joins the hearing via video call, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on December 11, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
Magaziner said Park was shot twice while serving in the U.S. military in Panama in 1989 and was deported to Korea by the Trump administration.
“Like many veterans, he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse after his service,” Magaziner said. “He was arrested in the 1990s for some minor drug offenses, nothing serious. He never hurt anyone except himself and has been clean and sober for 14 years.”
When asked if she would thank Park for her service, Noem responded to the congressman: “Sir, I am grateful for every person who has served our country and follows our laws.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testifies before the House Homeland Security Committee in the Cannon House Office Building on December 11, 2025, in Washington, DC.
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A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson later said Magaziner did not mention that. Park had a criminal record, although the congressman addressed that in his remarks.
“In 2010, an immigration judge issued her a deportation order. Park’s appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals that same month was dismissed by the Board in April 2011,” DHS Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the statement. “With no legal basis to remain in the United States and with a final order of removal, Park was allowed to self-deport to Korea.”
In response to a question from Magaziner, Noem pledged to review Park’s case.
Magaziner also introduced a military veteran named Jim Brown, from Troy, Missouri, who was sitting in the gallery behind Noem. Browns’ wife, originally from Ireland, lived in the United States for 48 years before being detained and facing deportation, the congressman said. His only criminal record was writing two bad checks totaling $80 several years ago, Magaziner said.
