Rep. Robin Kelly introduced three articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a move backed by nearly 70 members of Congress.
At Ms. Kelly’s press conference on Wednesday, the Illinois Democrat said Ms. Noem denied congressional oversight access to an ICE detention facility despite a seven-day notice.
“It is our constitutional duty to find out what’s happening in these centers where inhumane conditions continue to be reported,” Ms. Kelly said.
DHS called Ms. Kelly’s efforts “silly during a serious time.”
“As ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district,” a DHS spokesman told The Washington Times. “We hope she would get serious about doing her job to protect American people, which is what this Department is doing under Secretary Noem.”
The first article of impeachment is obstruction of Congress.
The second is a violation of public trust, citing DHS agents using “warrantless arrests,” deploying tear gas against protesters and flying Black Hawk helicopters over Chicago’s South Shore.
“Secretary Noem directed DHS agents to arrest people without warrants, use tear gas against citizens and ignore due process,” Ms. Kelly said. “She claims she’s taken murderers and rapists off our streets, but none of the 614 people arrested during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago have been charged or convicted of murder or rape.”
She continued, “Federal agents rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters and burst through an apartment on the South Shore of Chicago that was in my district. They dragged people, us, citizens and immigrants alike, out of bed in the middle of the night.”
The third article is self-dealing, which Ms. Kelly said is related to steering a government contract to a friend’s firm and spending $200 million on “recruitment propaganda.”
“Her propaganda campaign to recruit ICE agents cost taxpayers $200 million,” she said. “She made a video that turned the South Shore raid into something that looked like a movie trailer, but make no mistake, this is not a movie.
“This is real life, and real people are being hurt and killed. Renee Nicole Good is dead because Secretary Noem allowed her DHS agents to run amok.”
Federal officials said Good and others were obstructing an ICE operation in Minneapolis last week before a confrontation and the eventual deadly shooting.
A police-cam video shows that Ms. Good reverses her vehicle briefly and accelerates forward. The video then goes awry, and a crunching sound can be heard — consistent with DHS’ claim that the officer was struck by the vehicle.
Federal officials say Agent Jonathan Ross was acting in self-defense when he shot Good, a 37-year-old mother.
Defenders of the ICE agent said he had no choice, while others said Good was trying to pull away in her vehicle and was shot for no reason.
Ms. Kelly believes more lawmakers within the Democratic caucus will sign on to the articles of impeachment, but bringing the articles to the floor will be a challenge unless Democrats can find Republican support.
The impeachment effort against Ms. Noem is part of an effort to rein in DHS enforcement activities in multiple Democratic cities where ICE agents have faced violent resistance from protesters.
Democratic lawmakers negotiating fiscal 2026 funding for DHS with Republicans ahead of a Jan. 30 shutdown deadline are demanding new requirements for DHS agents, including requiring them to wear body cameras, prohibiting them from wearing masks and requiring more ICE agent training.
Additionally, state Democratic lawmakers and officials in Minnesota and Illinois have filed suit against DHS, calling the agents’ presence in their states unconstitutional.
