Rep. Robin Kelly files articles of impeachment against Kristi Noem

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, an Illinois Democrat, introduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Wednesday.

This comes after what Kelly called a “reign of terror” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies of the Department of Homeland Security. It includes the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis January 7.

Related: Who was Renee Nicole Good? Remembering the Minneapolis poet and mother killed by ICE

“Secretary Noem has brought her reign of terror to the Chicagoland area, L.A., New Orleans, Charlotte, Durham, and communities north to south to east to west,” Kelly said at a press conference, as reported by The Hill and other sources. “She needs to be held accountable for her actions.”

“Renee Nicole Good is dead because Secretary Noem allowed her DHS agents to run amok,” Kelly added. “Families are forever torn apart.” DHS and other Trump administration officials have claimed ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good in self-defense because she tried to ram him with her vehicle, but video of the incident shows Good driving away and posing no threat.

Related: Who is Jonathan Ross? ICE agent who killed Renee Good once broke a suspect's car window

The first article of impeachment alleges Noem denied Kelly and other members of Congress oversight of ICE detention facilities. Noem would not let Kelly into the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, and it’s been documented that congresspeople were denied access to ICE facilities in Texas, Colorado, California, New York, Virginia, and Washington, the article states.

The second accuses Noem of violating the public trust, including multiple violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act and the First and Fourth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. She has also denied due process by directing ICE to make arrests without a warrant and use violence against U.S. citizens and others, according to the article.

The third alleges self-dealing, saying Noem used $200 million in taxpayer funds for an ICE recruitment ad campaign and “bypassed the normal competitive bidding process to award a contract to a firm called Strategy Group,” founded just days earlier by the husband of senior DHS official Tricia McLaughlin.

Noem claims to be “taking murderers and rapists off our streets, but none of the 614 people arrested during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago has been charged or convicted of murder or rape,” Kelly said at the press conference.

The impeachment effort is unlikely to advance in the U.S. House, which has a slight Republican majority, but Kelly has 70 cosponsors for her articles, all Democrats. Others are interested, she said. The House brings the impeachment charges if a majority of members approve, and if that happens, the Senate holds a trial and votes whether to convict the accused person. Conviction requires a two-thirds vote by senators and removes the person from office.

Cosponsors include LGBTQ+ House members Angie Craig of Minnesota, Becca Balint of Vermont, Eric Sorensen of Illinois, Julie Johnson of Texas, Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Sarah McBride of Delaware, Ritchie Torres of New York, and Emily Randall of Washington State.

Asked if House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has not signed on as a cosponsor, approved of Kelly’s effort, she said, “You’ll have to answer to Jeffries, but I would not be standing here if I was told not to.”

“We haven’t ruled anything in, and we haven’t ruled anything out. Everything is on the table from the standpoint of complete and total accountability,” Jeffries told reporters Monday, according to The Guardian. He said Noem is “completely and totally unqualified” and should be “run out of town as soon as possible” but was not sure if impeachment was “the best way to accomplish that objective.” Some Democrats favor cutting ICE funding instead.

Kelly is seeking the Democratic nomination to succeed U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who is retiring. She “has positioned herself more aggressively on the issue than leadership,” The Guardian notes.

A DHS spokesperson brushed off the charges against Noem. “How silly during a serious time,” the spokesperson told media outlets. “As ICE officers are facing a 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district. We hope she would get serious about doing her job to protect American people, which is what this department is doing under Secretary Noem.”