In response to the massive deportation campaign she\u2019s overseen, the Long Beach City Council wants Congress to move forward with the steps necessary to remove Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n
On an 8-0 vote (Councilmember Daryl Supernaw was absent), the council on Tuesday agreed to draft a resolution<\/a> asking Congress to carry forward its investigation into federal immigration operations that have been carried out nationwide in the past year.<\/p>\n This investigation<\/a>, announced in a press conference by Long Beach Congressman Robert Garcia on Friday, will review alleged abuses along with payments, contracts, gifts and \u201ca massive grift\u201d Garcia said he believes was developed between Noem and other members of the Trump administration. Any findings, officials said Friday, will work toward the goal of building a case for an impeachment vote on the Congressional floor.<\/p>\n The idea for a City Council\u2019s resolution \u2014 a ceremonial vote of support \u2014 was brought forward by a trio of council members, Tunua Thrash-Ntuk, Mary Zendejas and Roberto Uranga.<\/p>\n In addition to asking for Noem\u2019s impeachment, council members agreed the resolution should include language \u201curging an end to federal policies and enforcement operations that subject local communities to violence and harm, and affirming the City\u2019s commitment to protecting civil rights, community trust, and the dignity of all residents.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a move made \u201cnot out of partisanship but out of necessity,\u201d Thrash-Ntuk said. Council members condemned ICE\u2019s tactics as unconstitutional, unsafe and harmful to the city of Long Beach.<\/p>\n This comes after federal immigration agents shot and killed two people last month in Minneapolis who were protesting their presence. Noem has faced an intense and increasingly bipartisan wave<\/a> of scrutiny over her handling of the shootings, namely for defending the agents and seeking to portray those who were slain as \u201cdomestic terrorists.\u201d Under pressure, she has agreed to some reforms, including a pledge to issue body cameras for immigration agents in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n In Long Beach,\u00a0 immigrant rights group \u00d3rale has recorded at least 19 immigration raids citywide since June 2025, and at least 87 people taken since the administration took office last January.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been betrayed by our federal government,\u201d said Councilmember Cindy Allen. She and other members spoke at length about the importance of their vote.<\/p>\n However, public speakers \u2014 more than a dozen \u2014 lobbed consistent criticism at the council. They said the gesture falls short of their demands for stronger action.<\/p>\n They pushed council members to call for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Others asked them to instruct first responders to block agents from operating in the city and pull business licenses for hotels that rent rooms to federal agents.<\/p>\n Some criticized what they saw as a lack of urgency over the council\u2019s timing, considering immigration raids began locally in June.<\/p>\n In response, Mayor Rex Richardson said the city has advanced several measures against the crackdown. The city has enshrined and expanded its sanctuary city laws<\/a> that bar cooperation<\/a> with federal immigration agents and do not allow data sharing, even among city contractors.<\/p>\n