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By Sharon Zhang / Truthout
Impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have gained dozens of cosponsors in just the past few days, as the horrific Border Patrol killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis spurs a major decline in support for the administration’s immigration raids among lawmakers.
The articles now have over 140 House cosponsors, a major increase from 111 on Friday. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) is one of the new signers, as well as some lawmakers in Democratic leadership.
This means over two-thirds of the House Democratic caucus has signed on to the articles, which accuse Noem of obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust, and self-dealing.
They were introduced earlier this month by Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Illinois), after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot Renee Nicole Good three times, killing her.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) also endorsed the idea of impeachment on Tuesday, saying in a statement: “Kristi Noem should be fired immediately, or we will commence impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.”
The new surge in support for impeachment comes after agents shot at Pretti, an ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital, at least 10 times in Minneapolis on Saturday. Video footage shows a gang of agents wrestling him to the ground as he tries to film agents conducting a raid. The agents then take Pretti’s gun out of its holster and kill him in a manner observers have described as an execution.
Noem immediately seized on Pretti’s death on Saturday, calling him a “domestic terrorist” — a label that even the White House has distanced itself from.
Rep. Pat Ryan (D-New York), one of the latest cosponsors, said that he signed on because Noem’s offenses have reached the “most grave and egregious” level of warranting impeachment.
“Secretary Noem had many chances to take accountability. The Trump Administration had many chances to hold her accountable. At every turn, they’ve doubled down on their cover-up of her egregious violations of the public trust. It is clear that action must be taken by Congress,” Ryan said in a statement.
It’s unlikely that Republican leaders will bring the articles to a vote, and the articles have not received any Republican cosponsors. Kelly could force them to a floor as privileged legislation, but it would have trouble passing with a Republican majority.
Still, the surge in cosponsors for impeachment is a sign of cratering support for the Trump administration’s horrific immigration raids.
In recent days, many Democrats who have previously stayed mum on Noem or defended DHS funding have spoken out, likely seeing the shifting public opinion toward abolishing ICE.
On Monday, New York Rep. Tom Suozzi put out a statement saying that he “failed” in being one of seven Democrats to vote to pass Republicans’ DHS funding bill on Friday. He cited agents’ killing of Pretti, but made no mention of Good, whose death was just weeks earlier.
Meanwhile, the same day, 15 veteran members of Congress signed a letter calling on DHS to “stand down” from its operations and for Noem to resign.
There is also movement in the Senate, where the DHS funding legislation is slated to come to a vote this week. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said Noem “must be fired” in a post on social media.
Even right-leaning Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) made an appeal to President Donald Trump on Tuesday to “immediately fire” Noem, saying that she “is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy.”
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Sharon Zhang
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labor. Before coming to Truthout, Sharon had written stories for Pacific Standard, The New Republic, and more. She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter: @zhang_sharon.