Congressman Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, has been named as one of three Democrats to lead an impeachment inquiry of Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary in charge of a monthslong federal crackdown in Minneapolis that has led to countless demonstrations and the killing of two people by immigration officers.<\/p>\n
Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will co-lead the inquiry alongside Rep. Jamie Raskin, who ranks the House Judiciary Committee and who was lead House manager for the second impeachment trial of President Trump in 2021; and Rep. Bennie Thompson, who leads Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee.<\/p>\n
Threats of an inquiry were raised earlier<\/a> in the week by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.,\u00a0 who warned proceedings would be launched if President Donald Trump didn\u2019t fire Noem \u201cimmediately.\u201d<\/p>\n At a press event in Long Beach on Friday, Garcia told reporters that if Noem \u201cdoesn\u2019t resign today,\u201d the inquiry will be launched in the coming days.<\/p>\n Once started, the congressman said it will review payments, contracts, gifts and \u201ca massive grift\u201d he believes to have developed between Noem, conservative lobbyist and advisor Corey Lewandowski, and Tom Homan, Trump\u2019s designated \u201cborder czar.\u201d<\/p>\n Garcia mentioned an incident<\/a> from 2024 when FBI agents investigating bribery reportedly recorded Tom Homan accepting $50,000 in cash, and reports that federal contracts have been awarded<\/a> to members of the Trump family.<\/p>\n \u201cThere must be accountability, and we\u2019re directing that impeachment,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n The announcement comes amid a groundswell<\/a> of calls for Noem\u2019s removal, mostly for her handling of the DHS\u2019 deportation operations in Minneapolis, where two American citizens were shot and killed by federal officers as they protested the administration\u2019s crackdown.<\/p>\n In either case, Noem defended the federal agents\u2019 use of force, calling both demonstrators \u201cdomestic terrorists\u201d who had endangered the lives of the officers. Her characterizations have been contradicted by footage and testimony captured at the scene.<\/p>\n Asked about the second killing \u2014 of Alex Pretti \u2014 on Fox News<\/a> on Sunday, Noem expressed compassion for the family but said \u201cit also grieves me what\u2019s happening to these law enforcement officers every day out in the streets with the violence they face.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite criticism even from some Republican lawmakers, President Trump has defended Noem, indicating her job is not in any immediate jeopardy.<\/p>\n \u201cWho closed up the border? She did,\u201d Trump said<\/a> in a Fox News interview, \u201cwith Tom Homan, with the whole group. I mean, they\u2019ve closed up the border. The border is a tremendous success.\u201d<\/p>\n In his address to reporters Friday, Garcia criticized Noem as someone parading \u201caround the world pretending to be an ICE agent herself\u201d and \u201cleading the charge\u201d of an overfunded ICE agency he compared to a paramilitary force.<\/p>\n \u201cImmigrants, people of color, and now, of course, also U.S. citizens and others are being killed, detained, maimed, hurt, oftentimes with no due process,\u201d Garcia said, calling the shooting of Renee Good and Alex Pretti \u201cmurder by our own government.\u201d<\/p>\n As of this week, the House Oversight Committee has tallied more than 450 instances of alleged misconduct or abuse, Garcia said.<\/p>\n Officials say 32 people died in ICE custody last year, and more than 200 U.S. citizens have been detained by its agents. Countless encounters with protestors \u2014 where agents say they\u2019re being subjected to violence and harassment \u2014 have led to injury and arrest of activists and politicians, and the public has been denied access to basic information on federal operations.<\/p>\n \u201cOur committee is working right now on a major report on both of those incidents, so that those that are responsible are held accountable,\u201d Garcia added.<\/p>\n Any findings and resolution, officials said Friday, should have major ramifications for how operations are carried out going forward.<\/p>\n In Long Beach,\u00a0 immigrant rights group \u00d3rale has recorded at least 19 raids citywide since June 2025, and at least 87 people taken since the administration took office last January.<\/p>\n At Friday\u2019s press conference, state Sen. Lena Gonzalez mentioned her co-authoring of SB 747, called the No Kings Act, which will be a \u201clegal remedy\u201d for people to sue a federal immigration agent for extrajudicial force through civil court.<\/p>\n She mentioned another bill<\/a> introduced this week that, if passed, would ban the use of flashbang grenades and explosive breaching devices near schools, parks and other areas where children might be present.<\/p>\n \u201cIf your family has been tear-gassed without probable or reasonable cause, you can sue,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cIf your family has had their home broken down and explosives clipped to the front door of their home, like in Huntington Park, with children inside, you can sue. And if you\u2019ve also had your car rammed with your children in the car, you should be able to sue as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Questions still remain over how much support Democrats will have in an official impeachment vote.<\/p>\n Although Democrats are the minority party in the House, they can use procedural tools to force a vote on an impeachment resolution. It\u2019s unclear, however, if there are enough House Republicans willing to support the measure.<\/p>\n As of Friday, at least two Senate Republicans have called for Noem to step down or be fired. A resolution<\/a> circulating in Congress to impeach Noem, sponsored by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., currently has more than 160 signatures, all Democrats.<\/p>\n