Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL), the daughter of an illegal migrant, used a hearing today to berate Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem and demand her resignation.
“In my state, let me be clear, you are not welcome,” Ramirez told Noem before demanding her resignation. “You have betrayed the sacred fundamentals of your oath, and I believe to my core that you are not fit to hold the office,” she claimed. “And I again, to your face, demand your immediate resignation, and I put and place it on the record for all of us to see.”
Rodriquez’s mother was pregnant with her when she arrived in the United States. Her subsequent birth in the United States provided Rodriguez with the full status of citizenship, and so she is legally and socially entitled to demand anything she wants of American politicians, including Noem’s resignation.
CNN reported Ramiriez’s story in 2023:
“I am the wife of a DACA recipient. I am the daughter of Guatemalan working immigrants. I know firsthand the challenges and constant fear our families live every single day,” Ramirez tells reporters.
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According to the story Ramirez grew up hearing, when her mom crossed the Rio Grande, strong currents nearly swept her away. She’d hidden her pregnancy from others on the journey, but in that moment she called out in desperation, “Help! Help! Save me! Save my daughter!” A man did, Ramirez says, but after that day, her mom never saw him again.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Department of Justice argue against the current practice of awarding citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal migrants.
Ramirez’s husband was still an illegal migrant in mid-2024, according to a Politico report from June of that year.
In the hearing Wednesday of the House Homeland Security Committee, Ramirez asked Noem, “When you took your oath, did you swear to support and uphold the Constitution of the United States of America? ”
“Yes, I did,” responded Noem.
“I find that laughable,” said Ramirez, adding:
We don’t live in a dictatorship or a monarchy. Trump’s will is not the guiding doctrine of this nation and our country for his or your twisted authoritarian fantasies. We are a democracy. We defend the Constitution and we affirm the rule of law. We respect the co-branches of government, and we uphold our rights, even when we disagree. The foundation of our nation is based on a core set of constitutional rights upon which our prosperity, our pluralism, and our peace depend on it [sic].
You, however, have been leading this work for 116 days, and in that time, you have profiled and dehumanized our neighbors, you’ve betrayed our constitutional commitment to due process, you’ve deported United States citizens. You’ve undermined the courts, you’ve broken the law, you’ve engaged in corruption, and you’ve weaponized the immigration system to violate civil rights. As Sen. [Chris] Murphy [D-NJ] perfectly stated, your department is out of control, but you, you’re responsible. You have betrayed the sacred fundamentals of your oath, and I believe to my core that you are not fit to hold the office. And I again, to your face, demand your immediate resignation, and I put and place it on the record for all of us to see.
In 2022 Pew reported:
At least 81 voting members of Congress are foreign-born or have at least one parent who was born in another country, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of members’ biographical information gathered from the Congressional Research Service, news articles, congressional offices and other sources.
Some former illegal migrants work in Congress. For example, Ramirez sits on the Homeland Security Committee alongside Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), who was brought to the United States as a child by his Peruvian illegal-migrant parents.
Many legislators who are children of migrants work whole-heartedly for their fellow Americans. They include former Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has used his authority as Secretary of State to block many of the migrant pathways created by former President Joe Biden.
But many immigrant legislators work hard to help other migrants move into the homes, jobs, and communities needed by American citizens. For example, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) are both pushing business-backed bills that would cause civic and pocketbook damage to hundreds of millions of Americans by legalizing millions of illegal migrants and welcoming many new ones.
The role of pro-migration politicians is increasingly spotlighted by some of the Indian-born Americans in Congress, including immigrants Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI).
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