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WATCH: Blumenthal and Noem spar over family separation at the border

Politics Updated on Jan 17, 2025 2:16 PM EDT — Published on Jan 17, 2025 2:08 PM EDT

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and homeland security secretary nominee Kristi Noem argued in a confirmation hearing Friday held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about President-elect Donald Trump’s policy that separated families at the U.S.-Mexico border during his first administration.

Watch the video in the player above.

Blumenthal said he wanted “to call attention” to legislation he’s sponsored called the Keep Families Together Act and the Families Belong Together Act, which he says would prevent children from being separated from their parents at ports of entry and reunite children who were separated from their parents in 2017 and 2018.

WATCH: Sen. Blumenthal questions Noem about child separation, protecting all Americans

In response, Noem said, “The Trump administration never had a family separation policy. They had a ‘zero tolerance’ policy, which said that our laws would be followed.”

During the Trump administration, more than 2,600 children were separated from their parents, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, is a rancher and a former member of Congress. A close ally to Trump, Noem has called migration across the U.S. southern border “an invasion.”

If confirmed, Noem would play a key role in carrying out his promised immigration crackdown by leading the Department of Homeland Security, one of the largest federal agencies.