One Hundred Democrats Have Now Signed To Co-Sponsor Articles Of Impeachment Against Kristi Noem

One hundred House Democrats have now signed to co-sponsor articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the lawmaker who introduced the bill said.

Rep. Robin Kelly said in a press release that the amount of lawmakers who signed on doubled compared to last week. She said the support is a result of people seeing "ICE's Gestapo-like tactics firsthand."

"As Secretary Noem continues to lie, obstruct Congress, and violate people's civil rights, the support for her impeachment only grows. I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to be on the right side of the law and our Constitution," she added. The number of co-sponsor amounts to almost half of all the Democratic caucus, which has 2013 members. Kelly expects the number to grow further.

The initiative has has garnered far more support than other such attempts as criticism of Noem surged after the shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.

The articles of impeachment in question accuse Noem of three counts: Obstruction of Congress, Violation of public trust and Self-dealing.

The first one involves cases when lawmakers were prevented from entering DHS facilities and withheld congressionally appropriated disaster relief funding. The second is in regards ICE's denial of due process and violation of First and Fourth amendments to detainees. And the third involves reports that Noem awarded $220 million in contracts to a firm run by the husband of her top spokesperson.

In a statement to the outlet responding to the initiative, the Department of Homeland Security dismissed the impeachment effort as "silly during a serious time," arguing that lawmakers should focus instead on what it said was a sharp rise in assaults against immigration officers.

Noem also brushed aside the criticism in an interview with Fox News over the weekend, saying she remained focused on her job and defending her public statements about the incidents. "Every single thing that I've said has been factual," she said.

The effort, however, has slim chances of being successful, considering Republicans control the Lower House.