Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement after President Trump fired Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem. Her termination comes after she repeatedly abused her position to benefit herself and terrorized communities with failed immigration enforcement efforts nationwide. Ranking Member Garcia aggressively investigated corruption and misconduct allegations against Secretary Noem in the run-up to a Democratic impeachment inquiry.
“Secretary Noem has been a failure since she took office, and her termination has been a long time coming. She oversaw abusive immigration raids that killed American citizens, misused hundreds of millions of dollars on her glam campaign, was responsible for countless violations of the Constitution, and more. Oversight Democrats led the fight to hold her accountable and we will keep fighting for justice,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
For months, Oversight Democrats have been tirelessly fighting to hold Secretary Noem and the Trump Administration accountable for abusive immigration enforcement and violations of the Constitution. In February, Oversight Democrats released a report highlighting key findings regarding the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Last August, Oversight Democrats launched an investigation into Corey Lewandowski’s Special Government Employee status, escalating their investigation into his financial disclosures last September. Last November, Oversight Democrats hosted a field hearing in Los Angeles on the unconstitutional detainments of U.S. citizens and launched the Immigration Enforcement Dashboard to monitor cases of abuse and possible misconduct during federal immigration raids. Oversight Democrats have hosted three forums with Senate Democrats to hear directly from U.S. citizens who were unconstitutionally arrested and detained.
Ranking Member Garcia is also a part of an ongoing successful lawsuit against Secretary Noem over her illegal restrictions of congressional oversight visits at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities by Members of Congress.
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