Congressman Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, has been named as one of three Democrats to lead an impeachment inquiry of Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary in charge of a monthslong federal crackdown in Minneapolis that has led to countless demonstrations and the killing of two people by immigration officers.
Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, will co-lead the inquiry alongside Rep. Jamie Raskin, who ranks the House Judiciary Committee and who was lead House manager for the second impeachment trial of President Trump in 2021; and Rep. Bennie Thompson, who leads Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee.
Threats of an inquiry were raised earlier in the week by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who warned proceedings would be launched if President Donald Trump didn’t fire Noem “immediately.”
At a press event in Long Beach on Friday, Garcia told reporters that if Noem “doesn’t resign today,” the inquiry will be launched in the coming days.
Once started, the congressman said it will review payments, contracts, gifts and “a massive grift” he believes to have developed between Noem, conservative lobbyist and advisor Corey Lewandowski, and Tom Homan, Trump’s designated “border czar.”
Garcia mentioned an incident from 2024 when FBI agents investigating bribery reportedly recorded Tom Homan accepting $50,000 in cash, and reports that federal contracts have been awarded to members of the Trump family.
“There must be accountability, and we’re directing that impeachment,” Garcia said.
The announcement comes amid a groundswell of calls for Noem’s removal, mostly for her handling of the DHS’ deportation operations in Minneapolis, where two American citizens were shot and killed by federal officers as they protested the administration’s crackdown.
In either case, Noem defended the federal agents’ use of force, calling both demonstrators “domestic terrorists” who had endangered the lives of the officers. Her characterizations have been contradicted by footage and testimony captured at the scene.
Asked about the second killing — of Alex Pretti — on Fox News on Sunday, Noem expressed compassion for the family but said “it also grieves me what’s happening to these law enforcement officers every day out in the streets with the violence they face.”
Despite criticism even from some Republican lawmakers, President Trump has defended Noem, indicating her job is not in any immediate jeopardy.
“Who closed up the border? She did,” Trump said in a Fox News interview, “with Tom Homan, with the whole group. I mean, they’ve closed up the border. The border is a tremendous success.”
In his address to reporters Friday, Garcia criticized Noem as someone parading “around the world pretending to be an ICE agent herself” and “leading the charge” of an overfunded ICE agency he compared to a paramilitary force.
“Immigrants, people of color, and now, of course, also U.S. citizens and others are being killed, detained, maimed, hurt, oftentimes with no due process,” Garcia said, calling the shooting of Renee Good and Alex Pretti “murder by our own government.”
As of this week, the House Oversight Committee has tallied more than 450 instances of alleged misconduct or abuse, Garcia said.
Officials say 32 people died in ICE custody last year, and more than 200 U.S. citizens have been detained by its agents. Countless encounters with protestors — where agents say they’re being subjected to violence and harassment — have led to injury and arrest of activists and politicians, and the public has been denied access to basic information on federal operations.
“Our committee is working right now on a major report on both of those incidents, so that those that are responsible are held accountable,” Garcia added.
Any findings and resolution, officials said Friday, should have major ramifications for how operations are carried out going forward.
In Long Beach, immigrant rights group Órale has recorded at least 19 raids citywide since June 2025, and at least 87 people taken since the administration took office last January.
At Friday’s press conference, state Sen. Lena Gonzalez mentioned her co-authoring of SB 747, called the No Kings Act, which will be a “legal remedy” for people to sue a federal immigration agent for extrajudicial force through civil court.
She mentioned another bill introduced this week that, if passed, would ban the use of flashbang grenades and explosive breaching devices near schools, parks and other areas where children might be present.
“If your family has been tear-gassed without probable or reasonable cause, you can sue,” Gonzalez said. “If your family has had their home broken down and explosives clipped to the front door of their home, like in Huntington Park, with children inside, you can sue. And if you’ve also had your car rammed with your children in the car, you should be able to sue as well.”
Questions still remain over how much support Democrats will have in an official impeachment vote.
Although Democrats are the minority party in the House, they can use procedural tools to force a vote on an impeachment resolution. It’s unclear, however, if there are enough House Republicans willing to support the measure.
As of Friday, at least two Senate Republicans have called for Noem to step down or be fired. A resolution circulating in Congress to impeach Noem, sponsored by Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., currently has more than 160 signatures, all Democrats.
This comes as Democrats and the White House on Thursday night struck a deal to avert a short government shutdown and temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security as they hash out new restrictions for its immigration enforcement.
DHS funding, separated from the federal government’s larger spending bill, is enough to last about two weeks while Democrats rein together strict limitations they hope to tack on immigration officers’ tactics, including a mask ban, requirement to wear body cameras and visible identification, an end to roving immigration sweeps, requirement for judicial warrants for stop and searches and to adopt the same use-of-force standards as local law enforcement.
They also want an independent investigation of the two fatal shootings in Minneapolis.
Garcia criticized Senate Democrats for the deal, calling the move “outrageous.”
“We shouldn’t give DHS or ICE a single penny more,” he said.
But he shared an optimistic tone, saying he personally knows several Independents and Republicans “horrified” by the immigration operations in Minneapolis and could be swayed to impeach Noem.
“Unfortunately, most Republican … at least choose to bend the knee to Donald Trump, but there are some that are finally speaking out,” Garcia said. “We’re hopeful it’ll be a bipartisan vote.”