Democrats Renew Calls to Defund ICE and Impeach Kristi Noem After Minneapolis Shooting

Democratic lawmakers are escalating calls to defund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis by a federal agent earlier this week, as reported by Fox News.

The shooting occurred on Wednesday in Minneapolis and resulted in the death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.

The incident has intensified divisions within the Democratic Party, particularly as party leaders have recently argued that efforts to defund ICE are not viable.

Earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries publicly stated that defunding ICE was not on the table, emphasizing instead that preserving the Affordable Care Act remained a central Democratic priority.

Despite those statements, Wednesday’s shooting galvanized progressive lawmakers who have long pushed to strip funding from ICE.

Rep. Delia Ramirez, who has previously supported a government shutdown to defund the agency, said anger was widespread among Democrats following the killing.

“Certainly everyone in that room, at least on my side, is livid at what happened to this woman,” Ramirez said. “Not just a resident of Minnesota, a U.S. citizen… a 37-year-old White woman, was shot, and then they lied about it.”

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also criticized ICE enforcement practices, arguing, “They’re disappearing people off the street, and this has nothing to do with citizenship at all, increasingly, in who they’re going after.”

Rep. Robin Kelly announced Wednesday that she plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Noem, directly tying the secretary to the Minneapolis shooting.

“Secretary Kristi Noem is an incompetent leader, a disgrace to our democracy, and I am impeaching her for obstruction of justice, violation of public trust, and self-dealing,” Kelly said.

“Secretary Noem wreaked havoc in the Chicagoland area, and now, her rogue ICE agents have unleashed that same destruction in Minneapolis, fatally shooting Renee Nicole Good.”

While impeachment efforts face steep political hurdles, Democrats appear more unified in threatening to use ICE funding as leverage during upcoming budget negotiations.

Sen. Chris Murphy said Democrats should withhold support for funding legislation without constraints on the agency.

“Democrats cannot vote for a DHS budget that doesn’t restrain the growing lawlessness of this agency,” Murphy said in a statement.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal echoed that position, saying Congress cannot “keep authorizing money for these illegal killers,” and labeling ICE a “rogue force.”

The renewed push highlights internal tensions among Democrats as leadership attempts to avoid shutdown battles while progressive members seek sweeping action against ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.

Noem has not publicly responded to the impeachment threat as of Thursday, and the investigation into the Minneapolis shooting remains ongoing.

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