Ryan Knudson

Last year, a splashy ad campaign featuring Kristi Noem, then head of the Department of Homeland Security, started showing up on TV.

Noem sits tall on a horse.

She's wearing chaps, a cowboy hat.

The granite faces of Mount Rushmore rise behind her.

The ads were directed at people thinking of illegally immigrating to the U.S.

It was a warning not to come.

You cross the border illegally, we'll find you.

These TV spots were mostly in English.

And the campaign was pretty pricey, costing more than $200 million.

Our colleague Michelle Hackman says this campaign came to define Noam's unconventional tenure at DHS.

It almost felt like she wasn't just running the show at DHS.

She was like literally, she was like starring in the show at DHS.

President Trump fired Noem last week.

Her tenure was dogged by controversy.

But in the end?

Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power.

I'm Ryan Knudson.

It's Monday, March 9th.

Coming up on the show, inside Kristi Noem's rocky tenure at DHS.

When Kristi Noem started running DHS, she took on a huge mandate to execute the president's signature domestic campaign promise.