Sen. Baldwin Demands Secretary Kristi Noem’s Resignation
Says Homeland Security leader 'lying,' causing 'total chaos.' Johnson blames Democrats.
Image from Baldwin’s office.
After federal immigration agents killed a second U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is calling for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Kristi Noem to resign or be fired.
“Kristi Noam has overseen the killing of two Americans in Minneapolis… She’s blatantly lied to the American people, telling them not to believe their own eyes,” Baldwin said. “She’s overseeing total and utter chaos in our country, putting more American lives at risk every day. That is why she has to go. She needs to be fired or she should resign.”
During a press conference with local media Tuesday, Baldwin announced she would not vote for a appropriations bill that includes funding for DHS, which includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), unless the agency takes action to improve accountability and transparency and withdraw the thousands of agents in Minneapolis.
“I refuse to give ICE and DHS a blank check to keep acting lawlessly, putting American lives at risk and making our communities less safe,” Baldwin said.
On Saturday, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Pretti grew up in Green Bay where his family still lives. He was the second U.S. citizen shot and killed by federal immigration agents in less than a month during the Trump administration’s federal law enforcement surge in Minnesota called “Operation Metro Surge.” An ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7.
Baldwin offered her condolences to the Pretti family, saying his death was “entirely preventable” and that he “should still be alive today.” The senator also called for an independent investigation into the killings that involves state and local officials.
“Instead of lowering the temperature and simply calling for an investigation, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem threw gas on the fire and lied to the American people. Without evidence, she called Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA, a ‘domestic terrorist’,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin demanded the president immediately draw down the thousands of immigration agents the administration surged into Minneapolis over the past month and said Congress should not approve more funding for DHS until the agents in the streets of Minneapolis are reigned in.
“We’ve warned this president for weeks and weeks that sending 1,000s of masked, armed and ill-trained ICE agents and border patrol into Minneapolis would only create chaos and make everyone less safe,” Baldwin said.
At least 162 members of the House of Representatives — more than three-fourths of all House Democrats, who total 213 — backed an impeachment resolution against Noem as of Tuesday afternoon, as the Wisconsin Examiner reported. That includes Wisconsin’s two Democratic House members, Reps Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan.
The Senate will vote this week on a funding bill that includes DHS. Baldwin is joining other Democratic senators demanding changes to immigration enforcement policy before they can vote in favor of the bill. Baldwin told media Tuesday she wants to see immigration agents take off the masks and wear identification during operations, and wants independent investigations into allegations that agents are routinely violating laws.
“These are the type of things that need to happen,” Baldwin said. “There should not be masked, armed, untrained, federal agents roaming American cities, residential neighborhoods, schools, places of worship.”
Johnson Blames Democrats for Protestors Killed in Minneapolis
In response to questions from Urban Milwaukee, Sen. Ron Johnson released the following statement:
“The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti are tragedies that did not have to happen. So were the deaths of Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungaray, Brianna Kelson, Rachel Morin, and many, many other victims of illegal immigrants. All of these deaths are the result of the Democrats’ open border policy and now the incitement of violence and obstruction against federal law enforcement. Hopefully, Democrat elected officials will admit that the public is safer if they cooperate with rather than obstruct federal officials trying to clean up Democrat-created messes.”
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“Noam” ==> “Noem”
It’s about time, Tammy. I guess it took the murder of two middle class white people for the Dem leadership to step up. When it’s people of color…not so much.
Ron Johnson continues his campaign of blaming the victim. He should be ashamed to hold office. No matter how he tries to tie border issues and spin the murder of innocent civilians, he and his fellow Republicans are solely responsible for this lawlessness.
Kristi Noem should be fired and prosecuted as an accessory to murder as her lies along with inciting violence delivered by ICE continues to take away the constitutional rights of Americans. Enough is enough!
Rubiomon, Baldwin has been clear in her non-support of ICE escalation. Have you tried turning your outrage against RoJo? Tried to get him to respond to repeated calls to stop ICE mass deployment against our urban centers? We have two US Senators, and only one has any clear cognitive grasp on what is actually happening. The other is a fully indoctrinated cult member. Best of luck in reaching that one.
good for you tammy. now, call for the impeachment of this president.
of course johnson would blame democrats. the immigration issue could be solved by the republicans by offering a path to citizenship instead of whining about everyone else.
RonJon followed orders and voted against an immigration bill that would solve several border issues. Of course, he blames democrats because that is what he is told to do. Here’s the thing, RonJon voted for the BBB that gave millions to DHS and ICE while taking away health insurance from millions of Americans. He is staunchly against common sense gun laws resulting in a deluge of guns in urban communities. He denounces Obama’s handling of illegal immigrants even though Obama deported 3 million illegal immigrants BY USING immigration courts, honoring the constitutional rights of each of the 3 million immigrants deported. He also did not harass or arrest asylum seekers and those who were going through the system to get legal green cards, those seeking US citizenship, and American citizens who exercise their first amendment rights.
ICE violates the first, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments in the Bill of Rights as well as the 14th amendment. They kidnap children to use as leverage against their parents. That children come home from school and find their parents gone is too reminisces of the how the gestapo operated in Nazi Germany.
RonJon adheres to fascist principles. His voting record and public announces shows that he is a coward. As a state and country, we must expose the lies of RonJon, cabinet secretaries, WH lackeys, and HWSNBN. These individuals are not patriots. They are traitors to the oath they took to defend the US Constitution.
A slightly different take on MKWagner’s excellent comment. I do not believe that Ron Johnson has “fascist principles,” or that he is a fascist. Johnson seems to be incapable of having any principles, thought, or any level of self-awareness. In person, he seems to be as dumb as Alabama senator Tuberville.
Johnson is what was known in the Nazi era as a Quisling, an opportunist willing to go along with anything, and to believe any lie, for personal gain. But, in the process of twisting himself and believing the lies he wants to believe, Johnson is in service to what has become a fascist government. (After the war, the response of the Qusling group was usually, “Hitler, never heard of the man.” Expect the same if Trump’s administration goes south.)
A standard work on fascism is Robert O. Paxton’s “The Anatomy of Fascism”(2004). In it, he asks, “What is Fascism?” His answer is a checklist of where we are in 2026.
The fascism checklist: “a sense of overwhelming crisis, beyond the reach of any traditional solutions; the primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to any right…; the belief that one’s group is a victim, a sentiment that justifies any action, without legal or moral limits, against its enemies, both internal and external; the need for closer integration of a purer community, by consent if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary; the need for authority by naturally chiefs (always male), culminating in a national chieftain who alone is capable of incarnating the group’s historical destiny; the superiority of the leader’s instincts over …reason; the beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, (and) the right of the chosen people to dominate others, often without restraint….”
Not quite a perfect fit, but close enough. And a new piece of evidence, The New York Times, January 28, “U.S. Posts Echo Far Right in Social Posts” The article documents the use of neo-Nazi and other extreme right images in posts from The White House, Homeland Security and the Labor Department. And Ron Johnson, the Quisling, willing to go along with all of it.
And, as Ellie Weisel once said on the rise of the Nazis and the road to the Holocaust, “It all happened so fast.”
we are watching it now. is this fast or is the response slow?
Senator MoRon Johnson continues to be an embarrassment to the state of Wisconsin. Whether it’s creating false skepticism about vaccine safety (thank you MoRon for helping Measles make a comeback), his utter ignorance regarding climate change (tell the folks down south bracing for winter storms they’ve never seen that “climate change could be beneficial by reducing cold-weather deaths”, MoRon) and now saying the tragic mess created by ICE is because of Democrats, it should now be obvious that MoRon has never possesed the intellect to be a US Senator.
I fully support the deportation of undocumented immigrants that law enforcement can PROVE are dangerous criminals. But ignoring the fact that the only reason vast numbers of immigrants are undocumented is because for way too long, both Democrats AND Republicans have failed to create a system that allows people who fully want to come here to escape poor living conditions and are willing to do the undesirable types of jobs shun by our own citizens that are necessary to support our economy. Senator MoRon should ask some of our state’s noble dairy farmers if they could run their business without help from folks that came here from South of the Border.
I propose a grassroots effort to organize a state-wide party with the theme “Good riddance MoRon Johnson, let’s all raise a glass and sing On Wisconsin” for the day he leaves office.