Transcription
Hello everyone, and thank you so much for being here today.
This morning, I introduced articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Christy Gnome. I am proud to have the support of almost 70 members of Congress already, from all across the country.
Secretary Gnome has brought her reign of terror to the Chicagoland area, LA, New Orleans, Charlotte, Durm, and communities north to south, to east to west. You'll hear from some of those communities, Minnesota and Portland. She needs to be held accountable for her actions. This is why I introduced three articles of impeachment against Secretary Gnome.
Number one, obstruction of Congress. Secretary Gnome has denied me and other members of Congress oversight of ICE detention facilities. I was denied access to the ICE facility in Broadview, despite following Secretary Non's unlawful 7-day notice requirement. It is our constitutional duty to find out what's happening in these centers, where inhumane conditions continue to be reported.
Number two, violation of public trust. Secretary Gnome directed DHS agents to arrest people without warrants, use tear gas against citizens, and ignore due process. She claims she's taken murderers and rapists off our streets. But none of the 614 people arrested during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago have been charged or convicted of murder or rape. Federal agents repelled from Blackhawk helicopters and burst through an apartment in the South Shore of Chicago that was in my district. They dragged people, US citizens and immigrants alike, out of bed in the middle of the night.
Number three is self-dealing. Secretary Gnome has abused her power for personal benefit. She steered a federal contract to a new firm run by a friend. Her propaganda campaign to recruit ICE agents cost taxpayers $200 million. She made a video that turned the South Shore raid into something that looked like a movie trailer. But make no mistake, this is not a movie. This is real life, and real people are being hurt and killed. Renee Nicole Good is dead because Secretary Gnome allowed her DHS agents to run amok. Families are forever torn apart.
This is not about personalities or trivial disagreements. Secretary Gnome has called my impeachment efforts silly. I want to tell her right now, Secretary Gnome, you have violated your oath of office, and there will be consequences. I am watching you. Members of Congress are watching you. The American people, most importantly, are watching you. And most of all, we are not liking what we're seeing. If you believe impeachment is silly, then you are not taking your job or our Constitution seriously.
Now, it is my honor to introduce Congressman Adriano Espaillat from New York's 13th district and Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Congresswoman Robin Kelly. Um, I am proud to join you in introducing these articles of impeachment against Secretary Nome, who has clearly violated the law and the trust of the American people. Uh, 30, 32 people died under DHS custody in 2025, and already four people have died in 2026, along with widespread reports of sexual abuse, medical neglect, and inhumane conditions. All of this enabled by a broken system. But most importantly, our eyes do not defy us. Our eyes do not lie to us. We see, as the rest of the world has seen, how women are being violently pulled out of their cars and assaulted in front of the American people and in front of the eyes of the world. How a woman was shot in the face. As America watched on TV, and as the rest of the world watched this heinous murder, we've seen how not only immigrants, but green card holders, TPS recipients, farm workers, and even American citizens are being stopped illegally, cuffed, detained, and in some cases, arrested and deported.
I went to Monterrey, Mexico, where I met with four children, US-born children, American citizens that were sent to Mexico with their parents, including a young girl with a chronic cancer condition in her brain that needed immediate medical attention in a hospital in Houston, Texas. So this is a, a human rights violation, a blatant human rights violation. This is only seen in aggressive dictatorships across the world.
And so that's what we have. This is the Trump dictatorship. Do you think that a dictatorship knocks on your door and gives you a dozen roses when you open it? A dictatorship takes away your rights, your fundamental rights. It creeps up behind you and it assaults you. Eventually, it knocks on your door and shoots you. This is what's happening in America today. And so that's why it is important to hold the secretary accountable. This is enshrined in our laws and our Constitution. We must exercise our oversight powers. Congresswoman Velasquez and I went to 26 Federal Plaza, where we were denied entry to an ICE building. Subsequently, we went to court, and we had a favorable decision by that court to allow us to exercise our oversight powers. And just recently, Secretary Nome again placed another 7-day notice so they can prepare themselves and hide the truth before we get there. When we got there, they were mopping the floors. They were cleaning up. They didn't want us to see the dirty conditions. 30 men in a room with two toilets, one of them broken. A woman right across in another cell that could see each other. No confidentiality at all. This is inhumane and warrants an impeachment proceeding.
Up. I'm sorry.
It's okay.
And now, allow me, please, to introduce Congresswoman Maxine Waters from Oregon's third district.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you to Representative Robin Kelly for meeting this moment with action and moral clarity. I am Congresswoman Maxine Waters. I am a mother, a physician, and the honored representative for Oregon's third congressional district. Last week, ICE murdered Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. The very next day, federal agents shot two people in East Portland in my district. These are not isolated events. This is part of a pattern of abuse by brazen, militarized federal agents who act without fear of being held accountable to the law. People are being disappeared. People are being assaulted. And now, people are being murdered. And when our children and grandchildren ask what we did, when our neighbors were being targeted, I cannot sleep unless I can say we did every single thing we could. That is why I'm helping introduce articles of impeachment to remove Christy Gnome from office. We've all seen her crimes play out right before our very eyes. She's willfully obstructed congressional oversight, denying members, as you have heard, of Congress to facilities they have a legal right to conduct oversight at. She's clearly violated public trust with her warrantless arrests, the use of violent force against US citizens, including detaining four US citizen children from my district and being held in a windowless cell at the border near Canada for weeks. And Christine Gnome has misused her position for personal gain, while inappropriately using $200 million, taxpayer dollars, to fund an ad campaign to bring in ICE recruitment. These are not the best of the best folks that she's looking for. She is looking for people who are willing to invoke her lawless charade. I'm going to use every opportunity to implore my colleagues across this institution to wake up and join this effort, because protecting communities from unaccountable power isn't optional. That is our duty. Courage is contagious. And with that, I'm honored to yield to one of the most courageous among us, Representative Nydia Velázquez.
Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. And, uh, to all my my colleagues here and to Robin Kelly, thank you so much, uh, for this, uh, action. When the president was running for office for president, he made a pledge to the American people that he will be the no worse president. And yet he is invading sovereign countries like Venezuela, um, also sending a message to Cuba, Mexico, Iran, and in our own streets of America. He's launched war against American citizens. So let's get straight to the point. We are here today because the Department of Homeland Security has been turned into a weapon of political revenge. This agency thinks it's above the law. Christine Nom has treated the Constitution like a suggestion, and our communities like a battlefield. I have represented the people of New York for over 30 years. I have seen a lot of presidents, but I have never seen an administration use federal agencies to explicitly punish cities just because they didn't vote for them. That is exactly what Donald Trump is doing. And Christine Nome is his willing executioner. In my city, ICE is no longer a law enforcement agency. It's a rogue operation. Masked agents are abducting high school students from their neighborhoods. They are snatching fathers and mothers outside our immigration courts during routine checks, turning places of justice into traps. Even this week, they detained a city council staffer who is here in New York legally. This agency is completely out of control. Every time you see an ICE officer interacting with Americans now, they are screaming, cursing, and smashing windows to pull people out of their cars. It is the Wild West out there, and I guess that is why Christine Num loves wearing that cowboy hat. The difference is, Miss Nom, this is not a show. Lives are on the line. When she bragged about shooting her own dog, she wasn't just telling a story. She was showing us her character and how she might run a government agency. When you give untrained individuals a badge and set them loose, Americans are going to get hurt. Just like we saw last week in the tragic, tragic killing of Renee Nicole Good. And what was Christine Nome's response? Did she demand an investigation? No, she went on national television and smeared a dead American as a domestic terrorist. The articles we are filing today lay it all out: the obstruction of Congress, the violation of the public trust, and the self-dealing. While her agents are out there shooting citizens, Numb is busy funneling hundreds of millions in taxpayers' dollars to her friends at agencies through emergency contracts. Christine M has betrayed her oath. She has betrayed the Constitution, and she has betrayed the American people.