Powerful House Oversight Democrat calls for Kristi Noem’s impeachment & ICE abolishment

California Rep. Robert Garcia sharply escalated calls for accountability inside the Department of Homeland Security on Monday, urging the impeachment of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis this month.

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Garcia, the gay ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, made the remarks during an appearance on MS NOW with Katy Tur, arguing that the deaths reflect a systemic breakdown inside DHS and what he described as the transformation of ICE into an unaccountable national police force operating with impunity.

Related: Queer lawmakers call for ICE to be reined in after killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis

Related: Minnesotans mourn Alex Pretti, man killed by Border Patrol agents

“These killings have outraged — they’ve infuriated not just communities in Minnesota, but across the country,” Garcia said. “This agency has gone completely rogue. ICE needs to be abolished. It cannot be reformed, and Kristi Noem must be impeached.”

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee is calling for Kristi Noem's impeachment and the abolishment of ICE.Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The interview came amid an unusual wave of Republican calls for investigations into the Minneapolis killings. Tur noted that GOP lawmakers, including several senators and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer of Kentucky, have publicly questioned whether federal agents should remain deployed in the city at all.

Garcia said the bipartisan reaction underscored the political danger of defending DHS’s actions and reflected the scale of public anger.

“It’s surprising, of course, to hear any Republican ever take any stand against Donald Trump,” Garcia said. “But they’re seeing the American public outrage. And it’s not just Democrats or progressives.”

Related: Federal agents kill another person in Minneapolis

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Earlier on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Greg Bovino, the director of Customs and Border Patrol who has been traveling around the country alongside masked federal agents who are terrorizing communities, would continue to work in that role, but that the person responsible for Minneapolis operations moving forward would be White House border czar Tom Homan.

Throughout the interview, Garcia referred to the Minneapolis deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti as murders and rejected characterizations of the incidents as isolated or accidental. Instead, he framed them as the foreseeable outcome of years of unchecked expansion and militarization of federal immigration enforcement.

“What happened in Minneapolis — those are murders,” he said. “Those are murders by our federal law enforcement agency against our own people.”

Related: Pam Bondi's mad after judge rejects charging Don Lemon over his Minnesota church reporting

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

On January 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Good, 37, at point-blank range as she was attempting to get away from federal agents. On Saturday, less than two miles away from Good’s killing, Pretti, 37, who was filming happenings on his cellphone, was shot multiple times by several CBP agents as he was helping a woman pushed by a federal agent up as she slipped on the ice. After agents sprayed Pretti in the face with a chemical irritant and threw him to the ground, half a dozen officers pummeled him as one took Pretti’s legal firearm from his holster before shooting and killing the now unarmed VA ICU nurse.

Garcia argued that Democrats should be prepared to use every legislative tool available, including a government shutdown, to force structural change at DHS and halt ICE operations in cities where federal agents have engaged in violent confrontations with civilians.

Noem has lied to the American people about what happened on Saturday. “This individual showed up to impede a law enforcement operation and assaulted our officers,” she claimed at a news conference, despite video to the contrary. “They responded according to their training and took action to defend the officer's life and those of the public around him.”

Related: Renee Good's family reveals she randomly encountered ICE and stopped to observe

Related: Justice Department will investigate Renee Good's wife but not the man who killed her

She added, “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”

None of what she said is true.

“I think government shutdown should absolutely be on the table if we can use it as a way to ensure that we stop killing American citizens on our streets,” Garcia said.

Pressed by Tur on whether abolishing ICE was politically or operationally feasible, Garcia dismissed warnings from former DHS and ICE officials who argue that dismantling the agency would undermine public safety.

Related: More than $1.5 million raised for Renee Good’s widow & kids after ICE killing

Related: ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis has been identified

“ICE and DHS as they exist today did not exist just a few decades ago,” Garcia said, noting that the agency has expanded dramatically under President Donald Trump and now wields unprecedented authority and resources.

“There are functions within DHS that could be done by other agencies,” he added. “But ICE in its current form cannot exist because what they’re doing right now is killing people in the street. They’re violating due process.”

Garcia said accountability must begin at the top, calling for Noem’s impeachment and demanding independent investigations into the Minneapolis killings, including the unmasking of agents involved and the withdrawal of federal forces from affected communities.

“This is the moment we have to have courage and stand up for the country and do the right thing,” he said. “That begins with Kristi Noem at DHS.”