'Turned our government against our people': House Dems press Noem on immigration enforcement efforts
Raskin attacked Noem over her handling of ICE enforcement in Minneapolis.
House Democrats questioned Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem over the agency's immigration enforcement operations under her leadership when she testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday -- with the committee's top Democrat saying she turned "turned our government against our people."
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, began the hearing by attacking Noem over her handling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis and the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement earlier this year.
He said that after Good and Pretti's deaths in January, Noem launched a "smear campaign" against them as she made comments that labeled their conduct as "domestic terrorism."
"You've provided no evidence to back up your defamatory lie against either of these American citizens," Raskin said.
Raskin later pressed Noem on the topic, asking if she regretted labeling Good and Pretti that way.
"I offer my condolences to those families," Noem said in response.
Noem called Raskin's comments "falsehoods" and "lies," and said that the agency should be working together for families who lost loved ones to those who were illegally in the U.S.
Noem faced similar pressure when she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. During Tuesday's hearing, Noem refused to apologize for or retract her characterization of Pretti following the shooting, when she called his actions "the definition of domestic terrorism" without evidence.
Following the January shooting of Pretti, Noem drew criticism for insinuating he wanted to "massacre" law enforcement before the evidence and investigation was complete. Pretti was licensed to carry a handgun. Video from multiple angles showed that Pretti did not try to draw his gun from his waistband before or during the scuffle with federal agents.
Noem said Good "weaponized her vehicle," which she said was an "act of domestic terrorism" without evidence. DHS said that agents in the interaction with Good acted in self-defense in shooting her; local and state officials have disputed federal officials' claims.
Raskin insinuated that America is less safe because of her leadership of the Department of Homeland Security.
"You've turned our government against our people, and you've turned our people against our government," Raskin said. "But the people are winning today, although we know we must continue to wake up every day like the people of Minneapolis, and go out and fight for constitutional freedom."
Several Democrats used videos of U.S. citizens being detained during immigration enforcement operations to criticize Noem and the agency's efforts.
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal said that Noem provided a letter that outlines 18 instances of American citizens being unlawfully detained, but Jayapal said there might be more.
Noem pushed back, saying "context is critical in each of these situations to know the full range of what happened in each of these situations before and after the incident and their arrests," Noem said.
Jayapal said Noem has "had multiple chances to take accountability" but has "failed to do it."
"DHS is supposed to be protecting our residents and upholding constitutional protections. But you've turned that on the head. You have actually turned the United States government against its own residents," Jayapal said.
House Republicans were less critical of Noem compared to some of the GOP interactions with the secretary during the Senate hearing Tuesday.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis on Tuesday attacked Noem in a roughly 10-minute tirade, during which he called DHS a "disaster" and "failure" under her leadership.
Her testimony comes as much of DHS -- from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Transportation Security Administration to the Coast Guard -- remains shut down amid a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over how to reform ICE. Democrats have said they will fund the department only if changes are made to the agency following the deaths of Good and Pretti.
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