After fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis, Illinois Democrats seek Kristi Noem’s impeachment

SPRINGFIELD — Recalling parallels to aggressive federal immigration enforcement tactics in the Chicago region last fall, top Illinois Democrats called for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s ouster after a federal immigration agent fatally shot a woman under questionable circumstances in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Lynwood, who is running in the Democratic primary for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat, said she plans to file articles of impeachment against Noem.

“She has turned ICE into a rogue force, violating the Constitution, tearing families apart, and leaving death in her wake,” Kelly said in a statement. “From Chicago to Minneapolis, her recklessness cost lives, including Renee Nicole Good. This isn’t just dangerous — it’s impeachable. I’m fighting back.”

Alongside Kelly is her Democratic primary opponent, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg, who wrote on social media that “I’ll be your first cosponsor.”

“When federal agents are unleashed without restraint or oversight, the consequences are deadly — and the responsibility for this killing is on their hands,” he said, adding that he will be “demanding full answers and accountability from the Trump administration.”

The third leading candidate in that Senate race, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, said Noem should “resign or be removed,” adding “we won’t let you get away with this.”

Impeachment unlikely

Kelly’s impeachment push is likely symbolic at this point due to Democrats’ minority status in the U.S. House. And removal doesn’t appear likely either, as Trump and Republicans in his administration and Congress put out statements backing the ICE officer’s conduct.

Good, 37, was killed by a federal immigration agent while apparently attempting to flee a traffic stop. DHS, in a statement, said she “weaponized her vehicle” and attempted to run over agents in “an act of domestic terrorism” while the officer, “fearing for his life,” fired defensive shots.

However, multiple videos of the incident directly contradicted the Trump administration’s narrative by showing that Good was driving away from — not toward — the officer when he opened fire, raising doubts about the necessity of using lethal force.

The ICE agent later was seen on video walking around the scene with no apparent injuries, even though Trump said on social media the officer was hospitalized. Trump deemed the victim a domestic terrorist.

For Illinois’ elected leaders, there was a sense of déjà vu as the accounting of the fatal shooting echoed patterns in two shootings involving immigration officers during the height of Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago region last year.

Silverio Villegas Gonzalez was fatally shot by ICE agents in Franklin Park in September after attempting to flee a traffic stop. As in Good’s case, DHS said that Villegas Gonzalez tried to use his vehicle as a weapon, that agents feared for their lives, acted in self-defense and were “seriously injured.” But, bodycam footage later obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times found that the ICE officers deemed their injuries as “nothing major.”

In October, Marimar Martinez was shot by a federal agent in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood. DHS called her a “domestic terrorist” who used her car as a weapon. But evidence poked holes in that narrative and federal charges against her were dropped.

‘We’ve seen this playbook before’

Gov. JB Pritzker, speaking at an unrelated bill signing Wednesday morning, said that “we’ve seen this playbook before,” casting the federal government’s version of events in Orwellian terms.

“Kristi Noem and Donald Trump have told Americans to disbelieve clear, indisputable video evidence,” Pritzker said. “They want you to question what your eyes and ears are telling you and instead blindly believe anything that they say.”

The governor then encouraged people to watch videos of the incident for themselves.

Pritzker had one other message: “It’s time for Kristi Noem to go.”

“ICE is not making Minneapolis safer — just as it did not make Chicago safer,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said, calling the shooting “horrific” and saying the agency’s behavior “needs to stop.”

Durbin, in a statement, said that “a full investigation must be completed so the truth can be revealed.”

“Video of the incident starkly contradicts DHS’ narrative, and the fact that DHS has jumped to characterize this shooting in ‘self-defense’ is rushed, at best, and a lie, at worst,” he said.

Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on his Republican counterparts to issue a subpoena to compel Noem to testify before the committee.

Noem is one of the faces of the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration. She made several appearances in Illinois during Midway Blitz, the campaign DHS says resulted in the arrests of more than 4,500 immigrants who were living in Chicago and its suburbs without legal permission.

But the raids often led to violent confrontations between masked federal agents and protestors during various operations in the city and suburbs, including near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in suburban Broadview. Many of these skirmishes resulted in the deployment of tear gas and other chemical agents.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.