Democrat Moves to Impeach Noem After ICE Killing: “A Disgrace to Our Democracy”

A House Democrat has announced that she is moving to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois said on Wednesday that she is planning to introduce articles of impeachment against Noem, who she calls “a disgrace to our democracy.”

“Secretary Noem wreaked havoc in the Chicagoland area, and now, her rogue ICE agents have unleashed that same destruction in Minneapolis, fatally shooting Renee Nicole Good,” Kelly said in a statement, referring to the woman shot and killed in her car by an ICE agent.

“From Chicago to Charlotte to Los Angeles to Minneapolis, Secretary Noem is violating the Constitution while ruining — and ending — lives, and separating families,” said Kelly. “It’s one thing to be incompetent and dangerous, but it’s impeachable to break the rule of law.”

Kelly seeks to impeach Noem for three counts: obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust, and self-dealing.

On the first count, Kelly’s office says Noem “willfully obstructed Congressional oversight and withheld Congressionally appropriated funds in violation of her constitutional oath and federal law.”

Indeed, under Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has repeatedly barred lawmakers from conducting their oversight duties of federal immigration facilities and has withheld millions of dollars in emergency funds from North Carolina as it recovers from Hurricane Helene.

On violation of public trust, Kelly says Noem has “compromised public safety, violated due process of American citizens, and directed unconstitutional actions” — referring to DHS’s lawless invasion of communities across the U.S.

Finally, with regards to self-dealing, Noem has “abused her office for personal benefit and steered federal dollars to associates,” the press release says.

Reports have indeed uncovered a vast amount of corruption with regard to Noem, involving hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of shady deals. Most recently, in November, ProPublica uncovered that an ad firm with longstanding close ties to Noem got a $220 million contract to produce an anti-immigration ad featuring the secretary last year. The CEO of the company, Strategy Group, is married to DHS’s number two officer, Tricia McLaughlin.

This is just one of several alleged examples of corruption regarding Noem, including her taking an $80,000 cut of political donations, DHS spending $172 million on top-of-the-line private jets for her and other DHS officials, and other instances — part of a long history of reports of corruption going back to her time as governor of South Dakota.​​

Some Democrats have previously moved to impeach Noem. Last month, Rep. Delia C. Ramirez took a step toward impeaching Noem, calling on the House Judiciary Committee to investigate her for obstruction and lying to Congress.

Good’s horrific killing on Wednesday — which Noem and other officials rushed to justify and mischaracterize — has also renewed calls for the abolishment of ICE, with calls now coming even from conservatives like Bill Kristol.

“ICE shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis today while she was trying to drive away from them. Her killer must be held accountable and brought to justice,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan). “We need this rogue agency out of our neighborhoods. Abolish ICE now.”