Representatives of several Democratic caucuses in the United States Congress called for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and the dismantling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the death of two protesters in January in Minnesota.
«We need to dismantle ICE. And, in the process, the person who runs the agency, under whose supervision these atrocities have been committed. “She should resign or be removed,” declared the leader of the Hispanic Caucus, Adriano Espaillat, at a press conference outside the agency’s headquarters in Washington.
Other leaders – including the Congressional Asian and Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democratic Women’s Caucus – also demanded an impeachment against the Secretary of Security, highly questioned after the events in Minneapolis (Minnesota).
The @HispanicCaucus stands united in two very simple, common-sense proposals:
1. Fire Kristi Noem
2. Dismantle ICE pic.twitter.com/Ietw3ZGXiF
— Adriano Espaillat (@RepEspaillat) February 3, 2026
During the protest, they chanted “Noem must go” and held signs with the message “Get ICE out of our cities.”
For his part, Espaillat welcomed the decision of a federal judge who has temporarily prohibited the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from preventing members of Congress from visiting immigration detention centers without prior notice.
“We will be able to exercise our responsibilities and supervisory duties without any type of impediment or pressure from ICE or the secretary,” he stressed.
Kyle, TX: Video circulating from @reporteaustin shows an adult attempting to put hands on high school students during a protest — and the students defended themselves.
Leave kids alone. Peaceful protest isn’t an invitation for intimidation. pic.twitter.com/97QY7VGwCP
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) February 3, 2026
The member of the Foreign Affairs Committee Joaquín Castro was relieved by the release last Sunday of Liam Conejo, a 5-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant boy, and his father, who had been detained since January 22 in Minneapolis, but denounced that many more minors and families remain in the same ICE detention center.
“There is currently a 2-year-old baby imprisoned there, and a mother detained with her two children will celebrate her eldest son’s eighteenth birthday tomorrow,” he said.
Castro accused Noem of allowing and supervising “a mechanism of cruelty and perversity built by the Administration of President Donald Trump.”
Last December, the Trump Administration launched the so-called “Metro Surge” operation, a set of operations to arrest undocumented migrants in Minnesota, governed by Democrats, after the White House focused on cases of misappropriation of federal funds linked to the state’s Somali community.
The aggressive raids have been rejected by local authorities and by thousands of protesters, who have protested in recent weeks to demand the departure of ICE from the state.
Trump ordered last Saturday to withdraw the presence of federal agents at demonstrations in Minneapolis and other Democratic cities, but promised that they will continue to defend facilities owned by the federal government.
During the operations in Minneapolis, immigration agents shot and killed two protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 years old and of American nationality, which has generated outrage throughout the country and in the Democratic caucus.
