Rep. Ansari plans ICE oversight legislation, joins effort to impeach DHS head Kristi Noem

Arizona Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari says she and other Democrats in Washington are forging ahead with legislation to file articles of impeachment for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The legislation comes after the death of Renee Nicole Good — a 37-year-old U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The Trump administration has said the agent was acting in self-defense, though eyewitnesses and video have raised questions about that account.

In a floor speech this week, Ansari said she and other lawmakers have been sounding the alarm on ICE’s use-of-force and hiring surges for the last year.

“No agency is above the law. Yet, ICE is now the most well funded law enforcement agency in the United States, receiving more funding than many national militaries around the world, while operating with virtually no meaningful checks or balances,” she said. “That is why I’m introducing legislation to rein in ICE, demand transparency and stop the unchecked funding that enables these abuses.”

Last year, Congress approved a major funding boost for ICE and Customs and Border Protection as part of a larger spending bill. The package allocates $170 billion to immigration enforcement.

Ansari called for an independent investigation into the Minneapolis shooting and said she’s co-sponsoring legislation from Democratic Congresswoman Robin Kelly of Illinois — who’s introducing articles of impeachment for Noem.

Politics

2nd night of protests in Phoenix after ICE agent killed woman in Minneapolis

Connor Greenwall

Protests continue nationwide in the wake of an ICE agent’s fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman. That includes Phoenix, where a crowd gathered for the second time in as many nights on Thursday to denounce the killing of a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three who was shot through the window of her SUV.

“A woman has been murdered. Silence is no longer neutrality, it is complicity. We must reign in ICE, we must demand accountability and we must protect our communities from this abuse of power,” Ansari said.

Both southern Arizona Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva and U.S. Ruben Gallego of Arizona have also called for oversight of ICE’s use-of-force practices following the shooting this week.