Garden State Lawmakers Call Out DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for Softening Standards

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) is leading New Jersey’s Democratic members of Congress in demanding Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem immediately reverse a dangerous weakening of Coast Guard policy after a swastika was recently discovered drawn on a bathroom wall at the United States Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May.

“We demand that you immediately restore explicit language classifying swastikas as prohibited hate incidents and condemn the use of this heinous symbol at a military facility. And we demand that you take significant steps to reverse the culture of hate that is developing in the Trump Administration,” the lawmakers wrote.

In their letter to Noem, Pallone and NJ congressional members demanded that she publicly condemn the incident, restore explicit language classifying swastikas and other hate symbols as prohibited hate incidents, and reverse the 2025 handbook changes that removed the term “hate incident” from official policy.

Until 2025, Coast Guard policy clearly stated that swastikas, nooses, Confederate flags, supremacist symbols, and antisemitic imagery “would constitute a potential hate incident.” That language was eliminated and replaced with a description of the same symbols as merely “potentially divisive.”

The delegation warned that downgrading explicit prohibitions sends a signal that consequences are uncertain.

“Words matter. When the Coast Guard’s standard shifted from prohibited hate to something merely ‘divisive,’ the culture inevitably followed,” the lawmakers wrote.

In 2024, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 719 antisemitic incidents in New Jersey, the second highest annual total ever documented in the state. Nearly one quarter involved swastikas. Nationally, antisemitic incidents have reached record highs.

Pallone and his colleagues said that ambiguity around hate symbols inside a military facility undermines discipline, unity, and trust. They are pressing Noem to act immediately and make clear that swastikas and similar symbols are unequivocally banned.

“The United States military has always been one of the few places in our national life where Americans of every race, faith, and background stand shoulder to shoulder, bound not by identity but by shared purpose. That unity is a source of our military’s strength. If hate is minimized, if its symbols are softened, we risk eroding that unity from within,” the members wrote.

Pallone’s letter was signed by Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Congressman Herbert C. Conaway, Jr. (NJ-03), Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Congressman Robert J. Menendez (NJ-08), Congresswoman Nellie Pou (NJ-09), Congresswoman LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).

The full letter can be found here and below:

Secretary Noem,

We are horrified that a swastika was discovered drawn on a bathroom wall at the United States Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey. We demand that you immediately restore explicit language classifying swastikas as prohibited hate incidents and condemn the use of this heinous symbol at a military facility. And we demand that you take significant steps to reverse the culture of hate that is developing in the Trump Administration.

A swastika is not merely graffiti. It is the most notorious symbol of antisemitism and white supremacy in modern history, a symbol carried by Nazis across Europe and raised above concentration camps where millions of Jews were murdered. It is a symbol that more than 400,000 American service members died to defeat. We cannot be casual about it.

Last fall, when the Trump Administration rewrote the Coast Guard’s handbook to go easier on hate symbols, it changed behavior. Despite insisting that this would have no impact on the service, the swastika at Cape May is proof of the culture change.

In February 2023, the Coast Guard made important changes to the handbook that were unambiguous. It identified the swastika, the noose, supremacist symbols, Confederate flags, and antisemitic imagery as examples of symbols whose display “would constitute a potential hate incident.” The language from the original handbook left little room for doubt.

In November 2025, that clarity was replaced with vague, toothless language. The revised guidance removed the phrase “would constitute a potential hate incident” was removed. The term “hate incident” itself was struck from the policy. Words matter. When the Coast Guard’s standard shifted from prohibited hate to something merely “divisive,” the culture inevitably followed. Public outcry against these changes forced the Coast Guard to rescind portions of the proposed guidance, but we are still horrified that the cultural shift has manifested as an act of antisemitism in our state.

In New Jersey alone, ADL recorded 719 antisemitic incidents in 2024, the second highest annual total ever recorded in our state. Twenty-four percent involved the display of a swastika. Nationally, antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high, and hate speech targeted at the Jewish community continues to be a rising threat.

The United States military has always been one of the few places in our national life where Americans of every race, faith, and background stand shoulder to shoulder, bound not by identity but by shared purpose. That unity is a source of our military’s strength. If hate is minimized, if its symbols are softened, we risk eroding that unity from within.

We urge you to immediately condemn the use of the swastika at this military facility and restore explicit language classifying swastikas and other hate symbols as prohibited hate incidents. Every recruit who arrives at Cape May, and every service member serving in our armed forces, deserves to know with certainty that when it comes to hate, our military does not equivocate.

There is no gray area here.