Dozens of members of Congress rallied outside Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) headquarters on Tuesday to issue a warning directed at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, saying she must resign, be fired or face impeachment in the House.
"If Kristi Noem does not resign, and the president does not fire her, Democrats are ready and willing to impeach her," Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, said at the demonstration in Washington.
DHS previously told Newsweek that the Democratic-led effort is "silly," and said that Noem and ICE are "enforcing the rule of law passed by Congress."
Noem has been under increasing pressure, with even a couple Republican senators publicly backing her removal, after two U.S. citizens -- 37-year-olds Renee Good and Alex Pretti -- were shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota last month. Democrats' push to impeach her has ramped up significantly, with more than 180 lawmakers co-sponsoring the resolution. However, as Republicans control the House with a slim majority, the effort would need support from a few GOP members along with all Democrats to move forward.
The rally was a combined effort organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Dozens of Democratic lawmakers participated, with many posting video messages from outside ICE Headquarters.
Representative Robin Kelly, an Illinois Democrat who introduced the impeachment resolution in the House, told rally attendees: "I am impeaching Kristi Noem."
"Kristi Noem brought a reign of terror to cities across the country," Kelly said. "Everywhere they go, ICE causes death and destruction. She seems to get her kicks and giggles out of tearing families apart."
Omar described Minneapolis, which is in her district, as "currently under occupation." She highlighted the fear in her community, as well as the killing of two of her constituents, Good and Pretti, by federal agents under Noem's command.
"When we say it is time for Kristi Noem to go, we mean it now," Omar said.
Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, posted a video from the rally.
"I'm standing outside of the ICE headquarters to demand the impeachment of Kristi Noem," Casar said in the clip. "To demand an end to her reign of terror at ICE. To demand an end to Donald Trump's mass deportation machine."
Representative Judy Chu, a California Democrat, posted a series of clips of herself at the event, writing on X that she was demanding Noem's impeachment.
"Trump's federal agents killed two Americans in broad daylight. We are not backing down," Chu wrote.
The resolution introduced by Kelly in January aims to impeach Noem for 1) "Obstruction of Congress," 2) "Violation of Public Trust," and 3) "Self-Dealing." Kelly introduced the impeachment articles on January 14 against Noem for "high crimes and misdemeanors."
The articles of impeachment will allege that Noem blocked congressional oversight of ICE and DHS facilities, as well as directed ICE to "make widespread warrantless arrests, forgo due process, and use violence against United States citizens, lawful residents, and other individuals." Additionally, they accuse Noem of "using her position to circumvent the Federal contracting process and funneling Federal funds to her friends' businesses."
Kelly said during a January press conference that the Trump administration official "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."
"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," she said.
New polling published by Data for Progress on Tuesday showed a majority of voters support impeaching the DHS secretary. Overall, 52 percent support impeachment while 36 percent oppose. Those who approve of Noem's ouster include 80 percent of Democrats, 54 percent of independents and 21 percent of Republicans.
The poll was conducted January 30-February 2 with 1,307 likely voters and a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
While the impeachment effort is currently driven by Democrats, two Republican senators, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have called for Noem to be removed.
"What she's done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job. I mean, really...it's just amateurish. It's terrible," Tillis said in January. Murkowski similarly said that Noem "should go."
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to Fox News in January: "These radicals are attacking me but I'm just doing my job."
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek last month: "While ICE officers are facing a staggering 1,300 percent spike in assaults, too many politicians would rather defend criminals and attack the men and women who are enforcing our laws and did nothing while Joe Biden facilitated an invasion of tens of millions of illegal aliens into our country. It's time they focus on protecting the American people, the work this Department is doing every day under Secretary Noem's leadership."
Representative Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, told Newsweek in January: "When you have people that are being killed in broad daylight, if your only excuse for not signing on [to impeachment] is nothing's gonna happen, then it almost gives a permission structure. It is almost complicit in these actions. We still have democracy, at least some portions of it at this point."
Representative Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican, told C-SPAN on Tuesday: "They want to impeach Kristi Noem, which Kristi Noem is doing a tremendous job....Their whole intent is to shut down ICE, and it's not going to happen."
It's unclear when and how the articles of impeachment may proceed in the House. Given the current GOP control of the chamber, most analysts think the effort is unlikely to succeed in the near term. The effort would face an even more uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans control the chamber and a two-thirds majority is required for conviction.
Meanwhile, protests against DHS, ICE and the Trump administration are ongoing in Minnesota and across the country.