Kristi Noem Posts ‘Suck It’ on Official Government X Account
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem praised the voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit against her department on Thursday by writing, “Suck it” on the official X account of the secretary of the DHS.
Filed in March in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit was brought on behalf of 10 migrants who were detained in Texas before they were deported to El Salvador. That month, the Trump administration sent more than 230 migrants to the country, where they are being incarcerated in a notorious mega-prison. The administration alleges that the deportees were gang members, though a 60 Minutes investigation found that at least 75% of the men do not have criminal records.
That includes one of the plaintiffs in the case, Maiker Espinoza Escalona, who entered the U.S. to seek asylum with his partner Yorely Bernal Inciarte and their one-year-old baby. The three have since been separated, with Inciarte in detention in Texas, the baby somewhere in government custody, and Escalona in the Salvadoran prison.
On Thursday, lawyers for the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the case, stating:
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)( I XA)(i), Plaintiffs Maiker Alejandro Espinoza Escalona, Jackson Manuel Villa Wilhelm, Jorge Alberto Castillo Cerrano, Janfrank Berrios Laguna, Alejandro Jose Pulido Castellano, Josue de Jesus Torcati Sebrian, Walter Esther Salazar, Hijran Malik, Ghulam Muhammad, and MD Rayhan (collectively -Plaintiffs”), submit this notice of voluntary dismissal of all claims, without prejudice, in the above captioned case.
Since the filing of this case on March I, 2025, Defendants have removed Plaintiffs Espinoza Escalona, Villa Wilhelm, Castillo Cerrano, Pulido Castellano, Estiver Salazar, Muhammad, and Rayhan from the United States, rendering their claims moot. Plaintiffs Berrios Laguna, Torcati Sebrian and Malik no longer wish to continue litigating this case. Defendants have not filed an answer or a motion for summary judgment. Therefore, Plaintiffs hereby voluntarily dismiss this action, without prejudice.
On X, Noem hailed the development on her government account by posting a screenshot of the dismissal and writing, “Suck it.”
Noem has been relishing her tenure as Homeland Security secretary, having appeared in a series of media ops. These includes a video shot at the aforementioned Salvadoran prison in front of shirtless detainees, and also an ICE raid ride-along in which she pointed a gun at an officer’s head.
