Kristi Noem Insists ICE Isn't Creating a Database of Protesters Before Congressman Shows Her Video of Agent Who Said Otherwise

Under the spotlight during a House Judiciary hearing, the DHS secretary denied claims that her department is building a database of anti-ICE protesters

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Jan. 31, 2026, news conference

Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty

Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

Kristi Noem denied that the Department of Homeland Security is creating a database of protesters during a House Judiciary hearing on Wednesday, March 4

She was questioned about the subject after a viral video showed an ICE officer in Maine telling a protester they were being added to a “domestic terrorist” database

Two Maine women filed a class-action lawsuit claiming DHS actions violate their First Amendment rights

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem denied that her department is building a database of protesters, contradicting claims by federal agents that the Trump administration is indexing opponents of its immigration enforcement actions.

During a House Judiciary hearing on Wednesday, March 4, Democratic Rep. Lou Correa pressed Noem on whether DHS is keeping record of American citizens who protest ICE, referencing a widely circulated interaction between a Maine resident and a masked immigration officer in January.

Colleen Fagan, a social worker, was filming immigration officers with her cellphone during an operation at an apartment complex in Portland, Maine, on Jan. 23, when agents scanned her face with a smartphone and appeared to record her car license plate number.

“Why are you taking my information down?” Fagan asks one of the officers, whose identity has not been publicly revealed.

“Because we have a nice little database,” the officer responds, “and now you’re considered a domestic terrorist.”

“For videotaping you?” Fagan says, laughing. “Are you crazy?”

Fagan and another Maine woman, Elinor Hilton, sued Noem and DHS late last month in a class-action lawsuit alleging that the department and several of its subagencies are violating the First Amendment through actions “designed to chill, suppress, and control speech that they do not like.”

Responding to the lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Maine, DHS told NPR, "There is NO database of 'domestic terrorists' run by DHS. We do of course monitor and investigate and refer all threats, assaults and obstruction of our officers to the appropriate law enforcement. Obstructing and assaulting law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime. Our law enforcement methods follow the U.S. Constitution.”

On Wednesday, Correa questioned the officer's assertion in Fagan’s video that DHS was creating a database of protesters. “Are you creating a database, ma’am, of Americans?” Correa asked Noem.

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“No, we’re not creating a database,” Noem answered, before Correa played Fagan’s video to the room.

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The California congressman also demanded that Noem respond to comments from border czar Tom Homan that he is pushing DHS to create a database of people arrested during ICE protests.

“What are you going to do with that database?” Correa asked.

“I don’t know why he said that,” Noem replied, referring to Homan. “We’re not creating a database.”

“But he did say it — he works for you, he’s not an agent, he’s an employee,” Correa said, prompting Noem to clarify that Homan reports directly to President Donald Trump.

Asked whether she would respond to written questions about the existence or ongoing creation of a database with “clear” and “on the record” answers, Noem responded, “Absolutely.”

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