By Jim Kinney | jkinney@repub.com
CHICOPEE — U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal has added his voice to calls for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“What happened over the course of the last week, it’s the mayhem, the killings. And it’s this notion that if you just offer a narrative that people are supposed to buy into it, and clearly the videos tell a very different story than the narrative that the Trump administration was putting out,” Neal said Wednesday at an event in Chicopee.
Lead sponsor of the resolution, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Illinois, said Tuesday she has gained 162 cosponsors, over three-fourths of House Democrats, for her impeachment articles against Noem. The list includes Neal and U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, who represents parts of Western and Central Massachusetts, as well.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Melrose, has called for “dramatic changes” at DHS and criminal prosecution of federal agents who have broken the law.
“Kristi Noem should be fired immediately, or we will commence impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives,” said a statement signed by Clark and others in leadership. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
After Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis VA Health Care System ICU nurse, was shot and killed in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, 50 House members joined as cosponsors.
“Kristi Noem has blood on her hands. Under her watch, at least six people have been killed by her rogue agents, including Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, and Silverio Villegas González in Chicago,” Kelly said in a statement. “Each time, Secretary Noem lied to our faces and tried to justify the murder of innocent lives. People are disgusted by her.”
Neal said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents aren’t trained in crowd control.
“And, my God, it’s evident. You’re seeing it,” Neal said.
The White House has said Noem is not leaving her job.
“What the president’s doing, he’s shuffling the leadership out of Minneapolis and that doesn’t mean that the training that was necessary for ICE agents has improved or taken place,” Neal said.
Noem served in the House as a Republican, representing South Dakota from 2011 to 2019, before serving as governor.
“I had a working relationship with her when she was in the House,” Neal said. “But I think that this notion where they put out a press release before they know the facts, it’s not helpful.”
The Republican-led House voted Jan. 22 to continue funding Homeland Security over Democratic objections. It now goes to the Senate.
Neal said the administration has money to run DHS for a time, no matter what happens legislatively. But he hopes the Senate is able to separate out the spending bills, put DHS aside and then have a meaningful discussion that results in reforms.
“It looks as though the White House is prepared to make some concessions, but you don’t know where the Senate is going to come down,” he said.
