Democratic Senator John Fetterman has called for the dismissal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem by former President Donald Trump following the fatal shooting of an anti-ICE protester in Minneapolis.
“President Trump: I am directly appealing to you to immediately remove Secretary Noem from her position. American lives have been lost,” Fetterman declared in a statement.
He accused Noem of undermining the Department of Homeland Security’s fundamental mission and tarnishing Trump’s legacy on border security.
Fetterman also criticized Noem’s predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversaw approximately 10 million migrant encounters at the border, a record-breaking figure in recent history.
“Do not repeat President Biden’s error by retaining an inept DHS Secretary,” Fetterman warned.
In response, Trump stepped in on Monday, deploying Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to address the escalating ICE situation there.
The President met with the Homeland chief at the White House late on Sunday night after she branded Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old VA nurse, a ‘domestic terrorist’.
The President grilled Noem over her handling and initial response to the shooting during their late-night meeting, reports say. Noem’s adviser and rumored lover Corey Lewandowski was by her side at the Oval Office summit.
U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) speaks to the members of the media on Capitol Hill, on January 7
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt listen as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters over the North Atlantic as he returns to Washington from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, aboard Air Force One, U.S., January 22
Kristi Noem is facing Trump’s wrath as he orders her longtime rival, border czar Tom Homan, to clean up the chaos caused by her immigration crackdown in Minneapolis
By the end of the night, Noem was ordered to shift her focus away from interior immigration enforcement operations and instead concentrate on securing the Southern Border.
Despite the furor, Noem is expected to keep her job – for now.
House Democrats on Capitol Hill have launched an investigation into Noem, while 140 members of the party have co-sponsored an impeachment resolution.
Republican lawmakers, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Kentucky Rep. James Comer, have also expressed concern that Noem’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota may have gone off the rails.
The Democratic impeachment bill alleges that Noem has been self-dealing, obstructed Congress and violated public trust.
Republican Rand Paul has also called multiple top immigration officials to testify at a February 12 hearing.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons have been asked to attend.
Noem will testify before the Senate on March 3 as part of regular oversight, Politico reported.
Pretti, 37, was shot dead by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis on Saturday during a targeted immigration enforcement operation
John Fetterman’s wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, 43, turned on his unwavering defense of ICE and branded their operations ‘cruel and un-American,’ following the shooting death of Alex Pretti
Fetterman has positioned himself as one of the strongest Democratic backers of ICE, in sharp contrast to the majority of his Senate colleagues.
The Democrat told Fox News on January 14: ‘Round up all the criminals. Deport them. They shouldn’t have ever been here. And they definitely have to go.’
His staunch support for ICE has even put Fetterman at odds with his Brazilian-born wife, who called the migrant crackdown ‘cruel and un-American’ in a social media post on Sunday.
‘For more than a decade, I lived undocumented in the US. Every day carried the same uncertainty and fear lived in my body – a tight chest, shallow breaths, racing heart,’ Gisele Barreto Fetterman, 43, wrote on X.
‘What I thought was my private, chronic dread has now become a shared national wound,’ she added. ‘This now-daily violence is not “law and order.” It is terror inflicted on people who contribute, love and build their lives here.’
