“A Force of Terror”: Rep. Delia Ramirez on ICE Abuses & Her Push to Impeach DHS Chief Kristi Noem

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Jun González.

Democratic lawmakers repeatedly called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign as they confronted her on Trump’s immigration crackdown during a heated House Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday. Noem’s opening statement was briefly interrupted by protesters.

DHS SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM: I’m looking forward to discussing the worldwide threats that this country faces and the work that President Trump and his administration does each and every day to make America safe again. I’m very privileged and honored today to have my family with me.

PROTESTER 1: Stop ICE raids! The power of Christ compels you!

DHS SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM: I’d like to introduce them to you.

PROTESTER 1: End deportations! The power of Christ compels you!

CHAIR: Disruptions of congressional business is a violation of law —

PROTESTER 1: Love thy neighbor! The power of Christ compels you!

CHAIR: — is a criminal offense under federal law. Audience members are advised to take their seats and maintain order.

PROTESTER 1: Love thy neighbor! The power of Christ compels you!

CHAIR: The chairman may now ask Capitol Police to remove an arrest of the persons creating a disturbance.

PROTESTER 2: Stop ICE! Get ICE off our streets! Stop terrorizing our communities! Get ICE off our streets! Stop terrorizing our communities! Get ICE off our streets! Stop terrorizing our communities!

AMY GOODMAN: During the hearing, Congressmember Delia Ramirez of Chicago, the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, announced she’s taking the first steps to impeach Kristi Noem.

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: You lied on the record, and you lied to members of this committee. You violated court orders by not turning around deportation flights bound for El Salvador, where we know that hundreds of people, under your leadership, have reported that they were raped, they were beaten, and they nearly died. And your agents used chemical weapons in Chicago despite court orders from District Court Judge Ellis forbidding their use.

Secretary Noem, you, Gregory Bovino and your ICE, CBP and DHS deputized agents have waged an unaccountable, unlawful, unconstitutional war against communities across the nation. Our residents have been surveilled. They’ve been threatened. They’ve been tear-gassed. They’ve been hit with pepper balls. They’ve been shot. They’ve been subjected to warrantless arrests and precision immobilization maneuvers. They’ve been kidnapped and disappeared under your leadership. …

Bottom line, you lie with impunity, you reject checks and balances, and you ignore Congress and the courts. Your options are limited. Either you’re going to resign, Trump’s going to fire you, or you will be impeached. I’ve already called for your resignation. You may remember I hand-delivered my request to you back in May. And I urge you to reconsider resignation, because I’ve taken the first step towards your impeachment, and I’ve called on the Judiciary Committee to open an investigation into your lawlessness.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Congressmember Delia Ramirez of Chicago, who joins us now.

Congressmember Ramirez, that was a fiery hearing yesterday. Explain what it would mean for Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, to be impeached.

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: Look, Amy, it would mean that we would actually go through the process, and initiate the process through an investigation and then an impeachment committee, to look at all of the things that have happened under her leadership over this last year through impeachable offenses, to establish the articles necessary to bring before the body in Congress the actual vote to impeach her. It would mean, in essence, remove her.

We’ve called for her resignation. You know, Amy, I’ve been calling for her resignation since May. Now other members of Congress, Democrats, are calling for the resignation. But we’re past resignation. We actually need to look at everything she’s done, the ways that she’s committed offensible, impeachable crimes as the secretary, and actually move to a full formal impeachment, in which it would mean that she would not be able to work as secretary, but also in any of his leadership positions.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Representative, I wanted to ask you about a new report today in the media in terms of ICE claiming, in response to a Freedom of Information request from the Freedom of the Press Foundation, that they have no records of any videos that they took during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. Your reaction to this assertion by ICE?

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: I mean, I’m no longer surprised, right? And let’s be clear: We can’t normalize any of this, but they are operating as a criminal organization, the Department of Homeland Security, under her leadership.

Of course, all of a sudden, they don’t have any footage, because the footage would show that what, in fact, happened via Midway Blitz was, to me, the highest offense of criminality under the leadership of Kristi Noem. Someone got killed, shot and killed, under her leadership. People were dragged out of their cars. They were beaten. They were disappeared. And what we also saw was that these agents, that weaponized — were weaponized across the city of Chicago and suburbs, were identifying people, abducting, beating and attacking them, based on the color of their skin. We also know what we saw at Broadview Detention Center repeatedly, the way that ICE pepper-balled, attacked, used these immobilization techniques to harm people. All of that was excessive force and illegal in many ways. And video footage, if they showed it, would show it.

Fortunately, fortunately, the people, the community, had a lot of that footage that was used in courts to demonstrate that what she has done is unconstitutional, unlawful and has violated her oath as secretary of homeland security.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And in terms of the killing that you mentioned, could you talk a little more about what was this — what has been discovered since then about what the ICE agents claim, the woman was assaulting them, and the facts as have come out afterward?

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: You know, they said that the woman, Marimar, had assaulted agents and assaulted Bovino, when we actually, in fact, know that, no, she had not shot at them. They shot at her, not once, five times. This is a force of terror. That is what we are seeing.

And what we saw from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in committee yesterday was a “thank you” tour, every single one of them thanking her for committing crimes, thanking her for violating the rule of law, thanking her for killing people based on the color of their skin, thanking her for disappearing people in detention, thanking her for the people who have died in ICE custody. We know that more than 25 people have died.

And when I asked her about the 170, at least, American citizens who have been detained under her leadership, we know what she did? She laughed at it, because she thinks that she is above the law as long as Republicans are in leadership. And that’s why, to me, it’s so important for Democrats to be using every single authority, whether it’s in committee, whether it’s on the floor or in investigations, to hold them accountable. We can’t allow her to think this is a laughable matter as people are dying under her watch.

AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to ask, Congressmember Delia Ramirez, if there is a move among congressmembers to support Ilhan Omar and object to President Trump’s comments calling a sitting congressmember “garbage.” I remember when Adelita Grijalva was not seated. Congressmembers like you, especially congresswomen, stood up and demanded that she be seated after she was elected. What about with Ilhan Omar now, to say the least, under assault from these extremely inflammatory comments?

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: Yeah, no, look, a number of us have talked about establishing a resolution that confirms that we stand in solidarity with Ilhan Omar, that we will not allow the president to use his authority to attack her, to put her life in danger and call her to question, a sitting member of Congress from Minnesota, because of her hijab, because of where she was born. We know that it is setting dangerous precedents. It may start with Ilhan. Certainly, some of us, they have attempted and talked about deporting us, denaturalizing us. I was born in this country, and they still say this. And it’s not Donald Trump, just Donald Trump. Donald Trump —

AMY GOODMAN: We have five seconds.

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: Donald Trump is using Andy Ogles and others. So, it is our responsibility to stand with Ilhan, because it’s standing with the body and the House of Representatives.

AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, he didn’t just call Ilhan Omar “garbage.” He called the whole Somali community in the United States. Congressmember Delia Ramirez, Democratic congressmember from Illinois, member of the House Homeland Security Committee. That does it for our show. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.