AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

We end today’s show with Congresswoman Delia Ramirez from Chicago, who’s calling for ICE to be abolished and the Department of Homeland Security to be dismantled. We had planned to focus this interview on your push to impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and the possible government shutdown. But I want to start by asking you about last night’s attack on your colleague, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Last night, a man sprayed her with an unknown substance.

REP. ILHAN OMAR: And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment.

AMY GOODMAN: Congressmember Ilhan Omar continued with the town hall meeting despite her aides and others saying she should be treated. An ambulance was waiting for her. President Trump had just attacked her verbally a few hours before at a rally in Iowa. And you have Congressmember Maxwell Frost attacked at the Sundance Film Festival. He’s the only Afro-Cuban member of Congress.

Congressmember Delia Ramirez, can you respond now to what you are seeing, first to these attacks? And then we’ll talk about what you’re calling for.

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: Yeah. Look, Amy, it’s disgusting and also scary, but the president of this country has weaponized his trolls around the country to put the life of so many of us in danger. I mean, Ilhan is someone who has been serving her community, standing up for her community, day in and day out. This man sat somehow in the second row, I think, and then got up and sprayed her with something.

But I want you to talk about how Ilhan just continued to carry on that town hall and what she said. She has survived more than that, and she will continue to stand up for her community. And nor Trump or any of these vicious, terrible, evil people will stop her from doing that. She should not have to continue to be as strong as she is, but her strength, I think, inspires so many of us to say we will not stand for this. We certainly need to have the security measures in place. But this is a direct influence of what you’re seeing from this president, from Stephen Miller and from every single person that continues to justify what this president is doing around the country.

AMY GOODMAN: So, if you can talk about what you are calling for when it comes to Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, who said, after Alex Pretti was killed by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, that he was brandishing a weapon? Absolutely, that was in contradiction to any video. No one claims he was brandishing a weapon. And you have, as you said, Stephen Miller talking about this would-be assassin who had gone to massacre police. What are you calling for in each of these cases?

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: Yeah. We need an independent investigation. But I think that we have enough footage, as well, to immediately realize that what Kristi Noem and what Stephen Miller are saying is blatant lies. DHS kills, and then they lie about it. And somehow they think that they can lie also about the video footage. If there was body cameras and footage that they would release, it would corroborate everything we saw from every single angle. The CBP executed Alex Pretti. DHS and ICE killed Silverio Villegas. DHS shot Marimar and then lied about it and is unwilling to release all the evidence, as her lawyer is demanding for it now. Renee Good was killed by them, and then they cursed at her, as if this was some video game that they’re playing as they’re executing U.S. citizens, you know, in our cities.

Here’s the thing: She needs to be impeached. I’m grateful that Leader Jeffries is now saying that if Republicans are — if she’s unwilling to resign or get fired, that we’re going to start the impeachment process in the House of Representatives. She needs to be impeached. But, Amy, that’s not enough. She needs to be impeached, and then she needs to be prosecuted for the crimes under her watch. You heard someone just talk about DHS. DHS is rotten from the inside out. She needs to be impeached, prosecuted.

But Tom Homan is no better. And if that’s who they’re attempting to bring to replace her, you know that what we see in our communities will continue. The agency itself needs to be dismantled. ICE needs to be abolished. And I have a bill called Melt ICE Act that would prohibit DHS from using any more of this ballooned levels of money that they have, that are being used to abduct, to kidnap and then detain people, so that they can give these contracts to campaign donors of Donald Trump. We have to abolish ICE. CBP was trained to operate in the way that it’s operating. The entire agency of DHS needs to be dismantled. And FEMA can no longer operate under this rogue, under this rotten agency.

AMY GOODMAN: So, can you talk about what legislation that you have introduced to abolish ICE? I mean, you have Democrats, your colleagues in the House, last week crossing the aisle and joining Republicans in funding DHS as it is, people like Tom Suozzi and another Long Island congressmember. Suozzi has now apologized, saying his constituents are angry. He apologized because Pretti was killed this weekend, and he said he really made a mistake in supporting this. But what actually happens now, this decision to — that can lead to a partial government shutdown if the Republicans don’t agree to separate out the funding of DHS from the rest of the budget?

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: Well, Republicans should immediately separate this budget, the way that we did in the House. And then every single Democrat and every single Republican that’s beginning to call for Kristi Noem to resign should say, “Not one more dollar as long as Kristi Noem is the secretary. Not one more dollar until we have body cameras. Not one more dollar until we get rid of secret police.” But the point is, Amy, I can’t justify anyone that would vote to send more money. Now, think about it, $170 billion taxpayer dollars through this big betrayal bill, I call it. They call it the Big Beautiful Bill. And then you’re going to go and send them more money, so that they can continue to occupy cities?

What people in Minneapolis are feeling, in some way we felt in Chicago, it is an invasion of American cities. Chicago is still not OK from the invasion from Midway Blitz. And so, it means that every single Democrat that is saying that what they are seeing every day is unacceptable, they have to call for more than training. They have to call for not one more dollar to be used by an agency that is executing people, that is abducting people. And in detention, our neighbors, our constituents are dying in. And so, it means no money.

And if there’s a government shutdown, I think we have to be very clear as Democrats what our demands are, because you saw the failure of Democrats in the Senate last time we had a government shutdown. What did we, in fact, get from that shutdown? And I would say to you, Schumer has to do his job. Of course, I’ve called for his resignation. I still don’t think that he is the leader that we need for this moment. But his precise responsibility in this moment is to ensure the demands of the American people are heard, and not one more dollar is given to this agency that is rotten and killing American people.

AMY GOODMAN: So, now Bovino is out, head of CBP. Apparently, he’s being sent back to El Centro, California, and will retire. And Tom Homan, considered by President Trump sort of the adult in the room, is being brought in. Last year, it was reported Homan had been recorded in 2024 accepting a bag — it was a bag from Cava, the store — with $50,000 in cash from a pair of undercover FBI agents who were posing as business executives. In exchange for the money, Homan reportedly offered to help them secure future government contracts. Bribery probe was opened, but Trump’s Department of Justice shut down the investigation. I wanted to play a clip of NBC anchor Kristen Welker questioning Homan about the incident in an interview on Meet the Press.

TOM HOMAN: I didn’t take $50,000 from anybody. And that’s a question for the FBI. I’m not going to give this story any more air. Bottom line, I did nothing illegal. I did nothing. And the FBI and DOJ reviewed this. No credible evidence I did anything, because I didn’t do anything illegal.

KRISTEN WELKER: But was there — 

TOM HOMAN: Question for — 

KRISTEN WELKER: — $5,000 in the bag?

TOM HOMAN: I’m not answering that question.

KRISTEN WELKER: And did you return it?

TOM HOMAN: I’m not giving this story any more air. This was an attack on my integrity and my professionalism. I’m not addressing it.

KRISTEN WELKER: But can —

TOM HOMAN: That’s a question for the FBI.

KRISTEN WELKER: Can you address, given that it’s been recorded, did you keep the money? Did you return the money?

TOM HOMAN: I did not keep any — $50,000 is ridiculous. The FBI has been clear on this, you know, and it irritates me this story keeps going on and on and on, even though I’ve been found I’ve done nothing inappropriate. So I’m not going to answer any more of these questions.

KRISTEN WELKER: But just to be — did you return the money?

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Tom Homan, who’s now been brought in. Supposedly, ICE has also been brought in to deal with corruption in Minnesota. Homan’s case, they did not come to a conclusion. The FBI just dropped the investigation recently. What are you calling for in his case? And your response to him being brought in to head the ICE operations, the CBP operations?

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: Tom Homan is corrupt. He is no better than Gregory Bovino. Tom Homan is also responsible for everything that is happening. He is a special adviser to the president on all immigration enforcement. Everything that is happening, whether it’s Alex, Renee, whether it’s Silverio and the dozens of other people who have died under watch, Tom Homan is responsible for it, as well. Rodney Scott, Tom Homan, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, they’re — Tricia — all of them are responsible. There is no fixing, reforming the Department of Homeland Security.

My bill, Melt ICE Act, is a bill that members of Congress can co-sponsor that would prohibit from your taxpayer dollars being used to continue to do what you see in these streets, from the detention that you’re seeing in these private detentions, where the contracts are going to Donald Trump’s campaign donors, that Tom Homan is helping also facilitate. This bill will also redirect all that money back into the communities, like Minneapolis, like Chicago, that have been harmed by immigration enforcement.

But the point is this: Tom Homan, Rodney Scott, Todd Lyons, they are all to blame to what is happening. Getting rid of Kristi Noem, of course, is a step forward. It is not enough. The entire agency needs to be dismantled. And Tom Homan is no better.

AMY GOODMAN: Kash Patel’s FBI closed the investigation into Homan while opening investigations into protesters in Minneapolis, and the Civil Rights Division says they’re not bringing civil rights charges against the agents who killed the U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. We have 20 seconds. Your final thoughts?

REP. DELIA RAMIREZ: When you have an agency killing people, executing them, lying about it, and then talking about investigating themselves while operating with impunity, you know exactly what is happening. ICE needs to be abolished, DHS needs to be dismantled, and we need to bring justice for every single person being — experiencing the harm, the chaos and the terrorizing in every community in this country.

AMY GOODMAN: Illinois Congressmember Delia Ramirez, speaking to us from Chicago, we want to thank you so much for being with us. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.