A progressive House Democrat is adamant that the Department of Homeland Security has itself become the greatest threat to Americans’ lives under President Donald Trump and Kristi Noem’s stewardship.
Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois made the claim at a press conference on Tuesday as the House and Senate debate funding for ICE and the broader DHS umbrella. House and Senate lawmakers are due to debate the issue over the next two weeks, as a continuing resolution to fund the agency will expire on February 13.
“Let me be very blunt, I’m gonna just say it: The greatest threat to the homeland is called the Department of Homeland Security. We have seen the danger in infusing resources into DHS’s abuse of power,” Ramirez said. The congresswoman is leading an effort in the lower chamber to pass articles of impeachment against Kristi Noem, the DHS secretary.
“Now I’m gonna also say something else here. DHS is not rogue because when it was built, it was built to violate our rights and has been empowered to act with impunity. Congress needs to send a message, and it’s why we are here today, that we do not consent, nor will we enable DHS and ICE’s lawlessness,” she added. “Noem has to resign. I’ve been telling her this since April. There needs to be oversight. And the masks must come off.”
DHS as an agency typically retains strong support on Capitol Hill, but progressives and libertarians on both sides of the political spectrum have raised civil rights and privacy concerns about the agency dating back to the days of the Bush administration and warrantless wiretapping, which was viewed at the time as a massive expansion of government surveillance power.
Ramirez further argued on Facebook that the shooting of Alex Pretti by a veteran ICE agent showed that the issues with the agency were not limited to the Trump administration’s policies.
“The officer who shot Alex worked for DHS for 8 years. The officer who shot Renee worked for DHS for over 10 years. Both are considered ‘highly trained,’” Ramirez, who in January called for both ICE and its parent agency, DHS, to be abolished, wrote: “The problem isn’t ‘training.’ DHS was built to violate our rights and has been empowered to act with impunity.”
Ramirez represents the far end of the Democratic spectrum as it pertains to funding for ICE, but the House Democratic caucus as a whole is opposed to voting for a DHS funding bill without significant ICE reforms.
In the Senate, the party’s feelings are the same, though it remains unclear if Senate Democrats are willing to fully hold up funding for the agency as leverage. Republicans do not appear to believe that is the case, and are ardently opposed to several provisions on Schumer’s wish-list: Warrant requirements for ICE arrests, an end to masked agents and roving raids.
Republicans can vote to enact funding for DHS in the House without a single Democratic vote, assuming there are no Republican defections on the vote. In the Senate, where a 60-vote filibuster threshold remains, the GOP will need Democratic votes to pass anything — including another short-term funding measure. In the House, GOP defections and absences could endanger the legislation thanks to a thin majority held by the GOP.
Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat from Minnesota, where ICE is conducting a massive enforcement operation, told The Independent on Tuesday that she remains opposed to any ICE funding without the agency pulling out of her state entirely.
“Short of Kristi Noem’s ICE getting the hell out of Minnesota, I’m not voting for a damn penny to ICE. So unless they’re going to start to bring down the surge in Minnesota, for real, I’m not voting for anything,” said Craig. “My own brother-in-law was, you know, coming out of a convenience store last week and was surrounded by ICE agents because he happens to be Latino. Until that kind of shit stops. I won’t vote for a damn penny.”
