Claims made by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about a deportation flight involving a detainee who allegedly "ate his own arm" are facing renewed scrutiny after federal officials said there is no evidence the incident ever occurred.
The allegation first surfaced during a 2025 press event in which Noem appeared alongside President Donald Trump to promote the administration's immigration enforcement policies. Speaking about individuals detained by immigration authorities, Noem described a dramatic case involving a detainee she characterized as a cannibal who allegedly began harming himself while being deported from the United States.
According to several federal law-enforcement officials familiar with deportation operations, however, investigators have been unable to locate any official record of the incident within Immigration and Customs Enforcement databases or internal flight reports.
The story originally drew national attention in July 2025 when Noem recounted it to reporters while discussing immigration enforcement. Describing what she said was an example of the types of individuals being detained by authorities, she told reporters that immigration agents had placed a man she described as a cannibal on a deportation flight.
During the same remarks, Noem said the detainee began injuring himself while restrained aboard the aircraft. "These are the kind of deranged individuals that are on our streets," Noem said at the time.
The claim quickly spread across social media and conservative media outlets and was cited by supporters of stricter immigration enforcement as an example of the dangers they believe undocumented migrants may pose.
Noem repeated the story days later in a television appearance on Fox News. During an interview on Jesse Watters Primetime, she elaborated on the alleged incident and attributed the account to information provided by a federal law-enforcement official.
"He said he was literally eating his own arms," Noem said during the interview with host Jesse Watters.
Months later, reporters seeking to verify the claim contacted federal officials involved in deportation operations. According to those officials, internal documentation maintained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement-including flight logs and incident reports maintained by the agency's Enforcement and Removal Operations division-contains no reference to any event matching Noem's description.
Officials familiar with the investigation said the account could not be traced to a documented deportation flight and that available records do not support the claim.
The Department of Homeland Security has defended Noem's statements, arguing that the former secretary was repeating information she had been told by law-enforcement personnel.
A DHS spokesperson responded to questions by saying: "What 'fabrication' of the story of the cannibal?"
The spokesperson said Noem had been recounting an anecdote shared by a federal air marshal during discussions about immigration enforcement.
The controversy emerges amid an already heated political debate over immigration rhetoric in the United States. President Donald Trump frequently referenced the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter during campaign rallies and speeches while discussing crimes he said were committed by migrants entering the country.
Immigration advocates argue that stories such as the alleged deportation-flight incident risk reinforcing fear-driven narratives about immigrants. At the same time, supporters of tougher enforcement policies say such anecdotes reflect broader concerns about public safety.
The political context surrounding the claim has also shifted in recent weeks. President Trump dismissed Noem as Homeland Security Secretary on March 5, though she has since been appointed Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
