Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, speaks outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, DC, on February 3, 2026 (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON – Dozens of U.S. House Democrats and leaders of several caucuses gathered outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in the nation’s capital on a chilly Tuesday morning, calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to resign, fire or be removed from office.
Democrats criticized Noem for the months-long immigration operation in Minnesota Federal immigration officials killed two US citizens – 37-year-old Renee Good, a poet and mother of three, on January 7th and 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse, on January 24th.
They blamed Noem for the aggressive tactics of ICE and other federal immigration agents in Customs and Border Protection and criticized the exploit of warrantless arrests and the presence of masked and unidentified officers. Such practices, along with the deadly shootings, led to a partial government shutdown as lawmakers negotiated recent immigration enforcement restrictions on the Homeland Security funding bill.
Democratic Rep. Robin Kelly, who represents parts of Chicago that saw aggressive immigration enforcement overdue last year, said that was the case for more than 180 lawmakers co-sponsored her impeachment proceedings against Noem.
“Kristi Noem brought a reign of terror to cities across the country,” Kelly said. “ICE causes death and destruction everywhere they go. They seem to delight in tearing families apart.”
Kelly said if Noem doesn’t resign, Democrats will move forward with impeachment proceedings, which likely will only happen if Democrats swing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment. Noem is a former Republican member of the House of Representatives from South Dakota.
Unannounced visits
Democrats also criticized Noem’s attempts to block members of Congress from conducting unannounced inspection visits to detention centers, which are permitted under a 2019 budget law.
A federal judge earlier this week imposed a momentary hold on a second directive from Noem that set a seven-day deadline for lawmakers to conduct oversight visits.
“We will be able to carry out our oversight responsibilities and duties without interference or resistance from ICE or Secretary (Noem),” said Adriano Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Current DHS data shows that more than 70,000 people are in ICE detention across the country. It’s almost double the number of people detained in the Biden administration’s final fiscal year, when nearly 40,000 people were in ICE custody when Biden left office in January 2025.
Other Democratic caucus leaders who gathered outside ICE headquarters included second vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Lucy McBath of Georgia; Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chairwoman Grace Meng of New York; Democratic Women’s Caucus Chairwoman Teresa Leger Fernández of New Mexico; and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar of Texas.
The Progressive Caucus has vowed to oppose any approval of ICE funding following Pretti’s death.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., speaks as Democratic members of Congress protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, February 3, 2026. (Video by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
But even if the fiscal 2026 Homeland Security bill is not approved, DHS will still have about $175 billion in immigration enforcement funding provided by the tax cuts signed by President Donald Trump and the spending package signed into law last summer.
Casar called for an end to Trump’s mass deportation campaign and immigration enforcement across the country.
“We are united as Democrats and as a country, marching in the cold of Minneapolis, facing tear gas from coast to coast, marching to demand that we impeach Kristi Noem, that we end Donald Trump’s mass deportation machine, and that we focus on the well-being and constitutional rights of ordinary people in the United States,” Casar said.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents parts of Minneapolis, said her district is “currently under occupation” by ICE and CBP. She said students are afraid to go to school and immigrants are afraid to go to hospitals “because our hospitals are occupied by paramilitary occupiers.”
Last week a man rushed at Omar and doused her with apple cider vinegar with a syringe during a town hall meeting where she called for the abolition of ICE and addressed concerns about immigration enforcement in Minneapolis. She was uninjured, but the attack followed an uptick Threats against members of Congressand the president verbally attacked her on multiple occasions.
Body cameras
After the shootings in Minneapolis and the edged criticism from Republicans in Congress, Noem said announced on Monday that immigration officers across the country would be given body cameras.
But California Democratic Rep. Norma Torres said body cameras were not enough and called on legal observers to continue recording and documenting ICE and CBP officers.
“Body cameras won’t be enough if they continue to hide evidence,” she said.
House Democrats were joined by about 200 protesters calling for Noem to resign.
Don Powell, 67, of Austin, Texas, said he and his wife traveled to anti-ICE protests.
“It’s just the immorality of how they treat children and adults. Nobody deserves to be treated like that, in theory for the crime they committed, which was crossing the border,” Powell said.
He also voiced objections to the Trump administration’s policy of deporting immigrants “to a foreign country they’ve never been to.”
The deportation of an immigrant from the United States to a location other than their home country is called third-country deportation. The Trump administration is currently being sued by immigrant and civil rights groups over the practice.
Jeanne Ferris, 71, of Bethesda, Maryland, said she attended 16 anti-ICE rallies this year and attended 119 anti-Trump rallies in 2025.
“I am opposed to the criminal in chief building his own private army and unleashing it on the American public and everyone else who is there,” Ferris said.
Ashley Murray contributed to this report.
