Breanna Swiech ‘26, Copy Editor
Politicians from across the country are calling for the impeachment of the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. Among these politicians are many democrats, including Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. According to PBS News, even some Republican politicians are chiming in, as North Carolina’s Republican Senator Thom Tillis said, “What she’s done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job.” There are many reasons for the cries of impeachment against Noem, but among the largest issues are her encouragement and enabling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), her reaction to the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and her attitude towards citizens who do not fit her stereotype of what Americans ‘should’ look like. This includes her fueling the ‘us versus them’ narrative with immigrants and her podium sign featuring the phrase, “One of ours, all of yours.”
Noem has demonstrated clear support for the aggressive and forceful methods of ICE, especially as she and her colleagues attempted to justify the actions of the ICE agents who shot Good and Pretti by suggesting the victims of the murders by ICE were “domestic terrorists,” according to ABC News. By falsely labeling citizens as domestic terrorists, Noem sets a dangerous precedent that encourages violence and aggression without retribution from ICE officers. Instead of domestic terrorism, in reality, the video of the shooting shows Good angling her car away from the ICE officer as she drives away, so she would not have hit him nor intended to in any way. Earlier in the video she said, “I’m not mad at you,” diminishing any claims that she was an aggressor or domestic terrorist, but instead a peaceful protestor exercising her First Amendment rights. Yet, Noem refuses to hold the ICE agent accountable for his actions, and because of that, she encourages a weaponized government force to move against U.S. citizens with no restrictions.
In the case of Pretti, the video of the shooting shows him telling an ICE officer, who pushed two women in the way of traffic, to not shove them into the road. Again, when the woman is pushed down, Pretti, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital, attempts to help her up as the ICE officer advances and sprays him with pepper spray. Then, Pretti is seen on the ground as ICE surrounds him, one officer bashing his head with a metal canister and another removing Pretti’s legally owned and carried handgun. Many of Noem’s colleagues argued that Pretti was responsible for his own death because he was carrying a firearm, but in Minnesota it is legal to openly carry firearms, so it does not excuse the ICE officers’ behavior, and it does not excuse Noem’s response to the shooting; the false claims that he “attacked” officers and was “brandishing” a gun, despite not laying a hand on his legal firearm at any point in the released video footage, are only some of the hypocritical notions regarding the 2nd Amendment the right are now manipulating. Moments after Pretti is unarmed and on the ground, no longer a threat, an officer in a black beanie fires four shots at Pretti. Another officer drew his gun and shots were fired—Pretti appears incapacitated on the ground. Then, the officer in the black beanie fires five more shots. All video angles of both shootings contradict Noem’s claims that Good and Pretti were domestic terrorists. Noem, ever the staunch MAGA loyalist, protects President Trump and ICE’s reputation rather than the American people, another reason why politicians are calling for her impeachment.
In giving ICE officers leniency for aggressive and dangerous tactics that have been seen to kill citizens, Noem holds some responsibility for their actions, as she enables them day by day. While Noem might think that aiding ICE officers help her cause, she is instead “[undermining] the long-term credibility of federal agencies,” according to ABC News.
Noem further validates the cruel acts of ICE as she is in charge of the ICE detention centers, according to the BBC. This means she is responsible for the 32 individuals who died in ICE detention centers in 2025, and the six who have died so far in custody in 2026. Many of these victims did not commit any grave crimes and had families who loved them—they were children, siblings, and parents. According to The Guardian, “2025 was the deadliest year for those in ICE custody in decades.” Yet, Noem has not disclosed any sort of plan to reduce the number of deaths in ICE facilities, nor does she seem interested in expressing empathy for the human beings who died under her leadership. She does not take accountability, she does not apologize, and she does not enact positive change into these cruel systems; instead, she chooses to fuel the fire of hatred. Noem was sworn into office promising to defend the Constitution and the American people, yet she has done neither while seemingly insisting on betraying America’s core values.
Ultimately, politicians want to impeach Noem for a variety of reasons; however, these mostly boil down to her blatant abuse of the American people through the use of masked thugs with minimal training to violently break up families and send people to detention centers without warrants or even affirmed criminal histories. Whether there will be enough votes to impeach Noem, and whether the vote to impeach her will be put into effect remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain—both citizens and politicians are growing increasingly disturbed with Noem’s behavior, and they are not staying silent about it.
Lyon Life 