Within the wake of the deadly capturing of a Minnesota mom by an immigration agent this month, Home Democrats have filed articles of impeachment towards Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem.
These lawmakers are heading in the right direction, however they needn’t have waited so lengthy. All through her yr on the Division of Homeland Safety, Noem has proven disregard for judicial and congressional authority, and he or she has misled the American individuals. Her management is endangering the nation. She must be faraway from workplace earlier than she will be able to do extra of the identical and worse.
As secretary, Noem has displayed a troubling sample of unethical conduct. Her notorious photograph op final March, posing in entrance of detainees in El Salvador’s CECOT jail, was not simply grotesque; it could have violated Geneva Conference provisions towards the general public exploitation of prisoners.
In October, Noem ordered a video blaming Democrats for the federal government shutdown to be performed at airports nationwide. This was in direct battle with the Hatch Act, which restricts federal staff from partaking in partisan political exercise.
In November, the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica reported that an organization tied to Noem acquired cash from $220-million Homeland Safety advert contracts in a secret, no-bid course of.
None of those situations replicate sound judgment by the particular person charged with maintaining our nation protected.
Noem doesn’t appear to respect the judicial department. She defied a federal decide by not turning round deportation flights to El Salvador final March. Her brokers in Chicago have used chemical sprays on protesters a number of occasions regardless of a court docket order forbidding them from doing so. Talking on “Meet the Press” in November, Noem stated, “We’ll proceed to do the precise factor, proceed to work and shield Individuals, it doesn’t matter what radical decide comes out and tries to cease us.” These actions, coupled along with her personal phrases, reveal an unacceptable disdain for our constitutional system of checks and balances.
Underneath Noem, officers from the Division of Homeland Safety and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have flouted congressional authority. Members of Congress have for months been denied their lawful proper to examine detention amenities in Minnesota, New Jersey, Florida and California. Such oversight is crucial to defending the well-being of detainees, particularly as a result of the division gutted its personal watchdog companies.
Noem has additionally made false or deceptive statements to Congress, the press and the general public. She made so many derogatory remarks about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man deported by mistake to El Salvador, {that a} federal decide rebuked her for inflammatory feedback. Noem has typically declared that ICE doesn’t detain or deport U.S. residents, although it does. ProPublica has, in reality, documented greater than 170 circumstances of Individuals detained by immigration brokers. And though Noem likes to repeat that ICE brokers are going after “the worst of the worst,” inner company knowledge present that they’ve arrested practically 75,000 individuals with no prison information.
When summoned earlier than a congressional committee in December, Noem struck a defiant tone. “I’ll take into account your asking me to resign as an endorsement of my work,” she advised one lawmaker. Nonetheless, this was earlier than the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. Now the general public seems to have misplaced confidence in Noem, whose job approval not too long ago slipped to 36%.
True, Noem was appointed by President Trump to execute his aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. Anybody else put within the function would most likely even have carried out these insurance policies.
It’s how Noem has carried out her duties that demonstrates unfitness for her job — not solely pursuing the president’s agenda but additionally racking up a physique rely, defying the legislation and mendacity.
She can be failing on the most simple features of her function. Contemplate that, below her management, FEMA has been extensively faulted for responding too slowly to pure disasters in Texas and North Carolina. Or that Noem has allowed division social media accounts to characteristic white nationalist memes and questionable messaging, together with recruitment posts saying, “Wish to deport illegals along with your absolute boys?”
Noem’s tenure has already had grave penalties. Thirty-two individuals died in ICE custody in 2025, making it the company’s deadliest yr in additional than 20 years. Throughout Trump’s second time period, immigration brokers have shot at individuals a minimum of 16 occasions.
Individuals want a Homeland Safety secretary who will comply with the legislation, respect Congress and inform the reality to the general public. Kristi Noem isn’t that particular person. Underneath her, the division is harming residents, not defending them. Lawmakers ought to press her impeachment ahead and take away her from workplace — except she has the decency to resign first.
Raul A. Reyes is an immigration lawyer and tv commentator in New York Metropolis. X: @RaulAReyes Instagram: @raulareyes1
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Concepts expressed within the piece
The creator contends that Noem has demonstrated a troubling sample of disregarding judicial authority, citing her defiance of a federal decide by not halting deportation flights to El Salvador final March and noting that Division of Homeland Safety brokers in Chicago deployed chemical sprays on protesters regardless of a court docket order forbidding such motion.
The creator argues that Noem has repeatedly made false or deceptive statements to Congress and the general public, together with claims that ICE doesn’t detain or deport U.S. residents regardless of documented circumstances of Individuals detained by immigration brokers and practically 75,000 arrests of individuals with no prison information.
The creator characterizes Noem’s March photograph op at El Salvador’s CECOT jail as not solely grotesque however probably violative of Geneva Conference provisions towards the general public exploitation of prisoners, and views it as emblematic of her broader unethical conduct.
The creator asserts that Noem has violated the Hatch Act by ordering a partisan video blaming Democrats for the federal government shutdown to be performed at airports nationwide, and has allowed division social media accounts to characteristic white nationalist memes and questionable recruitment messaging.
The creator maintains that below Noem’s management, the Division of Homeland Safety has failed primary features, with FEMA extensively faulted for sluggish responses to pure disasters in Texas and North Carolina, and contends that 32 individuals died in ICE custody in 2025, making it the company’s deadliest yr in additional than 20 years.
The creator asserts that Noem’s management has didn’t respect congressional oversight, with members of Congress denied lawful entry to examine detention amenities throughout a number of states for months.
Totally different views on the subject
The Division of Homeland Safety dismissed the impeachment initiative as “foolish,” arguing in an announcement that Tren de Aragua and MS-13 are among the many most violent gangs globally and that the administration is justified in its enforcement actions[2].
Supporters of the administration’s immigration enforcement strategy acknowledge that whereas the El Salvador detention facility video could also be strategically unwise in authorized proceedings, its deterrent impact on unlawful border crossings serves coverage aims[3], with some noting that public consciousness of penalties may cut back migration makes an attempt.
The Republican-dominated Home and Senate current structural obstacles to removing, requiring a two-thirds majority within the Senate, making the impeachment effort largely symbolic given the absence of Republican backing for the initiative[1].
These defending Noem’s tenure argue that the aggressive immigration enforcement insurance policies she implements replicate the mandate President Trump appointed her to execute, and that any successor would seemingly pursue related enforcement methods[3].
Some commentators counsel that Noem is just fulfilling her appointed function of executing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda, and query whether or not the controversies surrounding her replicate coverage disagreements fairly than real unfitness for workplace[3].
