Senator Cory Booker Calls for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to Resign After Heated Senate Hearing
In a tense Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker urged Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to quit or be impeached, saying he no longer trusts her leadership. The confrontation occurred during nearly four hours of hearing by senators questioning the department’s immigration enforcement and federal immigration officials.
Federal immigration agents’ detention of Americans was Booker’s main objection. Under questioning, the senator accused ICE of frequently breaching US citizens’ civil rights. Booker believes the department’s actions demonstrate leadership failure or a readiness to ignore constitutional rights.
Booker told the Homeland Security secretary during the hearing that there were only two explanations. He claimed the department was either incompetent or willfully tolerating rights abuses. Because of that, he demanded Noem’s resignation immediately. Booker also suggested that if she refuses to resign, Trump should remove her from office and Congress should pursue impeachment.
Booker pressed Noem on federal immigration agents detaining U.S. citizens, intensifying the conversation. He referenced public documents showing that at least 170 Americans were arrested by DHS during Trump’s second administration’s immigration crackdown. Booker said at least 20 children were in such circumstances.
Noem said that DHS does not detain Americans. When Booker asked how long federal immigration officials had held U.S. citizens, Noem emphasized that the government did not hold citizens. Booker reminded the secretary her assertion contradicted public evidence.
The session also addressed immigration enforcement’s treatment of kids. Noem testified that the department does not detain or separate children from their parents. Booker and other lawmakers disputed that claim, citing statistics showing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had detained hundreds of youngsters during the current immigration enforcement campaign.
Immigration enforcement court rulings were another important controversy. Booker claimed that DHS agencies routinely violated court orders during “Operation Metro Surge.” A Minnesota chief federal judge allegedly stated immigration agents had disobeyed roughly 100 court orders related to the operation.
The hearing also discussed a Minneapolis federal immigration officer death. During immigration enforcement, immigration authorities shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two Americans. Noem previously called Pretti a domestic terrorist. The assertion was disproven by later video.
Noem indicated at the court that her earlier declaration was based on preliminary information from the incident. She agreed that the first details were incomplete but did not apologize during the session.
Booker claimed that immigration enforcement had once been a popular political issue but was now highly problematic because to operations. According to the senator, many Americans support removing dangerous people from the country, but news of enforcement activities involving schools, neighborhoods, and U.S. citizens have raised public anxiety.
He said that federal agents were instilling terror in communities by infiltrating schools, arresting civilians, and violating Americans’ rights to freely protest and live without fear. Booker warned that rising immigration enforcement complaints have eroded public trust.
After Booker’s questions ended, Noem briefly thanked the senator for his criticism.
Booker and Noem’s dispute mirrors a larger political struggle between New Jersey politicians and the Trump administration over immigration enforcement. Federal and state leaders launched legal action over the dispute.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued New Jersey and Democratic Governor Mikie Sherrill earlier this year. Federal officials say a state directive hinders immigration agents’ operations.
Governor Sherrill’s Executive Order No. 12 is challenged in court. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials cannot stage enforcement actions or process detainees on state property under the injunction. Federal officials say the directive hinders immigration enforcement.
Governor Sherrill sharply attacked state immigration officers. The agency operates like a presidential militia, she has said. One of the most controversial government initiatives in New Jersey involves transforming a Roxbury warehouse into an immigrant detention facility.
Sherrill wrote to the Homeland Security secretary on February 27 that the state would contest federal measures if officials felt the law is being broken. The letter expressed the state’s opposition to the federal government’s purchase of Roxbury, a facility that could hold 1,500 inmates.
Several state political leaders oppose the initiative. Democrats in New Jersey’s congressional delegation oppose the project, and Roxbury Republicans have worries about the facility.
Booker’s call for the Homeland Security secretary’s resignation escalates the clash between federal immigration authorities and New Jersey’s political leadership. Lawmakers, federal agencies, and state officials will undoubtedly continue to dispute immigration enforcement policy and civil rights.
