U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Illinois, pledged last week that she would file articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. On Wednesday, Jan. 14, she held a news conference to announce that articles of impeachment formally have been filed and that 70 members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors.
Kelly represents Homewood and Flossmoor in Congress.
“Secretary Noem has brought her reign of terror to Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, and communities from north to south, east to west. She needs to be impeached for her actions,” Kelly said. “Secretary Noem has called my impeachment effort ‘silly.’ I want to tell her right now: You have violated your oath of office and there will be consequences. I am watching you. The American people are watching you. And most of all, we are not liking what we are seeing. If you believe impeachment is ‘silly,’ then you are not taking your job or our Constitution seriously.”
Kelly was joined at the news conference by U.S. Reps. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York, who is also the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Maxine Dexter, D-Oregon, and Nydia Velázquez, D-New York, co-sponsors of the impeachment articles.
Espaillat said he and colleagues were denied access to an ICE detainment center to fulfill their congressional oversight duties. After a judge ruled in their favor, they were allowed in, he said, but the facility had been cleaned up.
“They didn’t want us to see the dirty conditions,” he said, noting that there have been reports of detainees held in what he called “inhumane conditions.”
Dexter cited the violence of immigration enforcement under Noem’s command was part of her motivation to support the impeachment effort. She cited the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good, who was shot by an ICE agent during an encounter in Minneapolis.
“The very next day federal agent shot two people in East Portland in my district,” she said. “These are not isolated events. This is part of a pattern of abuse by brazen militarized federal agents who act without fear of being held accountable to the law. People are being disappeared, people are being assaulted, and now people are being murdered.”
Velázquez said the impeachment effort is necessary to rein in a federal agency that she said is out of control.
“We are here today because the Department of Homeland Security has been turned into a weapon of political revenge,” she said. “This agency thinks it’s above the law. Kristi Noem has treated the Constitution like a suggestion, and our communities like a battlefield.”
The filing includes three articles:
Obstruction of Congress. Secretary Noem violated her constitutional oath and refused to comply with the law that prohibits the Department of Homeland Security from preventing a Member of Congress from entering a DHS facility used to detain undocumented immigrants.
Kelly has tried to enter the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview but was denied, despite following Noem’s seven-day notice requirement. There’s been documentation of six other instances in which members of Congress have tried to enter an ICE facility and was denied in Texas, Colorado, California, New York, Virginia and Washington, she said.
Violation of Public Trust. Noem is accused of repeatedly violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution. She’s also broken due process by directing ICE to conduct warrantless arrests and use violence against US citizens and lawful individuals.
During the immigration enforcement project in Chicago, dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz,” federal agents used excessive force, in some cases injuring or killing, residents. Federal agents used military-style tactics to raid an apartment building in South Shore, detaining U.S. citizens for hours without warrants or reason for arrest, Kelly said.
Self-Dealing. Noem is accused of misusing her position for personal gain while inappropriately using $200 million taxpayer dollars to fund an ad campaign for ICE recruitment. She bypassed the normal competitive bidding process to award a contract to a firm called Strategy Group. Strategy Group was formed just days before the award and is run by the husband of senior DHS official Tricia McClaughlin, a close friend of Noem, according to Kelly.
The articles will face headwinds in the House, where Republicans hold the majority and control what legislation comes to the floor.
Read the full text of articles of impeachment here.
(Editor’s note: On Tuesday, Jan. 20, Kelly announced the number of cosponsors had increased to 100. The list below has been updated.)
The members of Congress co-sponsoring the articles of impeachment: Adelita S. Grijalva; Adriano Espaillat; Al Green; Alma Adams; Angie Craig; April McClain Delaney; Becca Balint; Betty McCollum; Bonnie Watson Coleman; Brad Sherman; Brendan F. Boyle; Brittany Pettersen; Chellie Pingree; Chris Deluzio; Dan Goldman; Danny Davis; Dave Min; Diana DeGette; Dina Titus; Doris Matsui; Emily Randall; Eric Sorensen; Eric Swalwell; Gabe Amo; Gabe Vasquez; Greg Casar; Gwen Moore; Ilhan Omar; J. Luis Correa; James P. McGovern; Jan Schakowsky; Jared Huffman; Jasmine Crockett; Jerrold Nadler; Jesús G. “Chuy” García; Jill Tokuda; Jimmy Gomez; Joaquin Castro; John Garamendi; John Larson; Jonathan Jackson; Joyce Beatty; Juan Vargas; Judy Chu; Julia Brownley; Julie Johnson; Kelly Morrison; Kevin Mullin; Kweisi Mfume; LaMonica McIver; Lateefah Simon; Laura Friedman; Linda T. Sanchez; Lloyd Doggett; Lori Trahan; Luz Rivas; Mark DeSaulnier; Mark Pocan; Mark Takano; Maxine Dexter; Maxine Waters; Maxwell Frost; Melanie Stansbury; Mike Quigley; Mike Thompson; Morgan McGarvey; Nanette Barragán; Nikema Williams; Nikki Budzinski; Norma Torres; Nydia M. Velazquez; Paul Tonko; Pramila Jayapal; Raja Krishnamoorthi; Rashida Tlaib; Ritchie Torres; Rob Menendez; Sara Jacobs; Sarah Elfreth; Sarah McBride; Sean Casten; Seth Moulton; Shontel M. Brown; Shri Thanedar; Stephen F. Lynch; Steve Cohen; Suhas Subramanyam; Summer Lee; Suzanne Bonamici; Sydney Kamlager-Dove; Sylvia Garcia; Teresa Leger Fernandez; Tim Kennedy; Val Hoyle; Valerie Foushee; Veronica Escobar; Wesley Bell; William R. Keating; Yassamin Ansari; Yvette Clarke.
