U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shed some more light on her surprise recent visit to northern Vermont — which followed the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent in the area — in a series of posts on social media this week.
Noem wrote on X that she met with the family of that agent, David Maland, as well as other officers from the agency’s Swanton Sector, which is the Border Patrol jurisdiction that covers Vermont, New Hampshire and parts of New York State. Photos posted to Noem’s official X account show her speaking with a large group of Border Patrol agents including Robert Garcia, who is the Swanton Sector’s chief patrol agent.
Garcia wrote in an Instagram post that Noem was at the Border Patrol’s station in Newport. Pete Flores, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection — which is under the homeland security department umbrella and oversees the Border Patrol — was also in attendance, according to Garcia.
VTDigger previously reported that Noem visited the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line, too, which is known for straddling the U.S.-Canada border. Maland was killed, along with one other person, in a shootout during a traffic stop the afternoon of Jan. 20 on Interstate 91 in Coventry, which is just south of Newport.
A 21-year-old from Washington State is currently in federal custody and facing two felony charges related to firing a gun during the incident.
Noem also singled out an apparent concern, in her posts on X, with some of the equipment that’s available to agents in the Swanton Sector.
“I was shocked to hear that some of our border patrol agents didn’t even have snow tires,” Noem wrote, pointing to how “it was 4 degrees & snowing” during her visit.
“It’s a no-brainer to make sure our law enforcement has vehicles with basic equipment for winter conditions,” she continued. “Under President Trump, our border patrol agents will have snow tires & ALL the resources they need to do their jobs.”
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not provide answers to a series of questions this week seeking to confirm that agents in the region lack snow tires, or whether access to such equipment has been curtailed in the past.
Noem’s visit to the state came just days after she was sworn into office and about a week after President Donald Trump, who appointed her, began his second term.
In the weeks since, immigrant rights’ advocates in the state have reported an uptick in immigration enforcement. The homeland security department also includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, under its purview.
