Long Beach officials call for abolishing ICE and Noem's impeachment

Long Beach officials call for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and have also announced they will proceed with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment unless she is fired or steps down.

Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-69), who represents Long Beach, said that ICE as an institution “has failed.”

“When I stand here and I hear [Rep. Robert Garcia] and [State Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach] call for abolishing ICE, I don’t believe it's radical. What’s radical is maintaining an agency that consistently violates human rights and then act surprised when trust in government is eroded,” said Lowenthal.

Garcia, the representative for Long Beach, was appointed to co-lead the impeachment inquiry against Noem. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) announced recently that Garcia, alongside Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) and Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), would be co-leading the inquiry.

Democratic leadership has made it clear the inquiry will go forward if Noem does not step down or is fired, which there have been no indications of. It’s unclear when Democrats will go forward with an impeachment vote.

“We are here because what is happening across this country is unacceptable to us, to our community, the country,” Garcia told reporters during a press conference last week. “I want to begin by saying that ICE is not welcome in California. ICE is not welcome in L.A. County and it's certainly not welcome here in Long Beach.”

Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) filed articles of impeachment against Noem in January following the death of Renee Good. As of Thursday afternoon, over 180 House Democrats have co-sponsored the impeachment effort.

Democrats in the House of Representatives could force an impeachment vote, but a handful of Republicans would need to join the effort for it to pass. In the Republican-controlled Senate, a two-thirds majority would be needed for Noem to be removed from her role.

As they have been watching over DHS’s actions during the agency’s immigration enforcement operations, the oversight committee has tracked nearly 450 cases of misconduct by immigration and federal officials, Garcia said. The committee is also aware of over 200 incidents of U.S. citizens being detained without reason, he said.

“ICE is now the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country, larger than the FBI, for the first time in American history,” said Garcia. “Donald Trump is creating his own paramilitary-style force accountable only to him, and Kristi Noem is leading the charge.”

The articles filed by Kelly accuse Noem of violating federal law by ordering warrantless arrests, detaining U.S. citizens and approving of excessive force. She is also accused of misusing $200 million for an ICE recruitment ad campaign, awarding government contracts to friends and family members and violating federal law by preventing members of Congress from entering immigration detention facilities.

Garcia made his stance on the agency clear during the conference, saying ICE “cannot continue to exist.” 

Gonzalez, vice chair of the California Legislative Latino Caucus, was also present at the press conference, calling for both Noem’s impeachment and the abolishment of ICE.

“If you want to have your communities to stop being tear gassed, if you want them to stop being violently shoved to the ground, families not just being separated but being taken to other states that they don't even know where they're being taken to, then you would ask for the resignation of Kristi Noem,” she said.

Gonzalez also announced Senate Bill 937, a bill that aims to severely restrict “less than lethal weapons” for the use of crowd control, specifically tear gas, flashbang grenades and explosive breaching devices in law enforcement operations.

“You should not use it without reasonable cause to disperse a crowd or a protest where people are exercising their First Amendment, even though the president of the United States seems to think differently,” Gonzalez said.

In a press release, Gonzalez pointed to multiple examples of these tactics causing harm, including an incident in Los Angeles where a man was reportedly struck by a flashbang device that detonated on impact and caused him to lose a finger.

Immigration advocates from Centro Cha, a Latino-serving support agency formed in Long Beach in 1999, were present at the press conference to advocate for the mental and physical impacts of violent immigration enforcement on Latino communities, as well as the subsequent support services needed.

“The U .S. immigration policy is causing a public health emergency, not only in our city, but our state and across the nation,” said Jessica Quintana, executive director of Centro Cha. 

Quintana spoke to the psychological and emotional impact on children, including anxiety, depression and even PTSD due to having family members be detained. Absenteeism, food and housing insecurity have also risen since Noem’s ICE raids began, Quintana said.

Critical needs include trauma-informed support, help with emergency child care plans, community centers to access, rental assistance and legal services, among much more, said Quintana. 

“[Immigrants] want the freedom, like everybody else, to move around the community, to attend school, work, doctor's appointments, shop at the grocery stores, to take their children to parks and playgrounds without being assaulted or kidnapped by deranged masked men and women with assault weapons,” Quintana said.