Democrats demand testimony from Noem over Padilla handcuffing
Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee called on their Republican counterparts to hold a hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, saying she must be held to account for the treatment of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
Noem's security forcibly removed Padilla after he interrupted her press conference on Thursday. He identified himself and tried to ask a question as he was pushed out of the room, onto the ground, and handcuffed.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), joined by the other Democrats on the panel, said Padilla's effort to question Noem was inspired by 'an abysmal record of responding to inquiries and document requests from Capitol Hill.'
'Senator Padilla was doing his job when he attempted to communicate their outrage to Secretary Noem and ask questions about the administration's brazen actions in the State,' he wrote, describing Padilla's removal as 'a mortifying display for the Department and for the country.'
Trump administration officials have said the security officers acted appropriately in removing someone they didn't recognize from the press conference.
But Padilla was escorted to the event by federal security and used his name and title when interjecting.
'Secretary Noem was present and aware of what was happening and at no point attempted to intervene. She later gave the excuse that no one in the room recognized the Senator, which we know is not true,' wrote Thompson, the top Democrat on the panel.
'If it was true that neither the Secretary nor anyone who works for her was able to identify one of the two Senators of a State in which her Department is executing widespread immigration raids, she should take responsibility and apologize for the fact their ignorance resulted in the Senator being treated as a criminal. Instead, the Secretary has been slandering the Senator, falsely suggesting that he never identified himself and that he lunged at her. Video footage of the incident demonstrates both accusations to be patently false.'
The letter was addressed to Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) who announced this week he plans to resign from Congress to pursue an opportunity in the private sector.
Thompson asked Green to 'summon the Secretary of Homeland Security to testify about the egregious treatment of Senator Alex Padilla.'
Neither Green nor Noem's office immediately responded to request for comment.
Noem did meet with Padilla shortly after the incident.
'I think everyone would agree that wasn't appropriate,' she said once the press conference began.
'When I leave here I'll find him and visit and find out really what his concerns were. I think everybody in America would agree that that wasn't appropriate, that if you wanted to have a civil discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a conversation,' she said.
Padilla has said his treatment raises questions about what happens off camera.
'I will say this: If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, I can only imagine what they're doing to farm workers to cooks to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,' he said in a press conference after meeting with Noem.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
Bill Maher says Dems need to ‘do something' about ‘The View' after Whoopi Goldberg's Iran comments
'Real Time' host Bill Maher and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, hammered Whoopi Goldberg and 'The View' on Friday after the co-host claimed that life for Black Americans is equivalent to women living under Iran's oppressive theocratic regime. Maher claimed that Democrats took a step 'back to sanity' after The New York Times took a more 'sensible liberal, not crazy woke' position on transgender issues. He then asserted that the second step Democrats should take is to 'do something about 'The View'' after Goldberg's comment comparing life for Black Americans to living under Iran's brutal regime. Goldberg sparked backlash during a heated argument with her fellow 'The View' co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin on Wednesday. Griffin elaborated on the many human rights violations perpetrated by the Ayatollah's regime in Iran, including executions of gay people and imprisonment of women who go outside with their hair uncovered. 'Let's not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. Listen, I'm sorry, they used to just keep hanging Black people,' Goldberg insisted as Griffin pushed back and said the situations weren't comparable. 3 Maher claimed that Democrats took a step 'back to sanity' after The New York Times took a more 'sensible liberal, not crazy woke' position on transgender issues. FOX News Hunt shot down Whoopi's assessment of life in America for Black people, noting the success he's found in the United States as a Black man. 'My district in the great state of Texas is actually a white majority district that President Trump would have won by 25 points. As I said, I'm a direct descendant of a slave, my great-great-grandfather, who was born on Rosedown Plantation. I am literally being judged not by the color of my skin but by the content of my character,' he explained. Hunt continued, adding, 'That's the progress because — like a lot of white people had to vote for me — a lot. So I don't ever want to hear Whoopi Goldberg's conversation about how it's worse to be black in America right now.' 3 Whoopi Goldberg and Alyssa Farah Griffin on life in the US and Iran The View, June 18, 2025. ABC 3 Hunt shot down Whoopi's assessment of life in America for Black people, noting the success he's found in the United States as a Black man. FOX News The Texas congressman also pointed out that his father, who grew up under Jim Crow, is now the father of a United States congressman in a white majority district who ran as a Republican. 'That's America,' Hunt stated. CNN Contributor Paul Begala brought up the fact that America has a holiday to celebrate the freedom of Black Americans from slavery — Juneteenth — but questioned why President Donald Trump 'doesn't want to honor' the occasion. 'I don't want it,' Hunt replied. 'I don't want Black History Month. I don't want all these days to make everybody feel special. I'm an '80s baby. Everybody's too sensitive anyway. We're all Americans anyway.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Roommates from Mexico charged in Hawaii for alleged fake documents
Two roommates in Hawaii are facing federal charges after they allegedly entered the U.S. from Mexico as tourists and bought fake passports, Social Security cards and other documents to stay and work illegally. Raul Arambula Ramirez, 48, aka 'Alexander Rodriguez, ' and Jose Juarez Ramos, 29, aka 'Jose Ramos Mendez, ' are charged with fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents. They made their initial appearance with the help of a Spanish-language interpreter Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter in Honolulu. Their detention hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Nammar is prosecuting the case. On April 16, Homeland Security Investigation agents learned of Ramirez's immigration violations. HSI agents executed a search warrant at Ramirez and Ramos' Fern Street apartment June 13. Ramirez was last admitted into the United States on Jan. 24, 2022, as a 'non-immigrant Temporary Visitor for Tourism /Pleasure ' at the Nogales Port of Entry in Arizona with authorization to remain in the United States for a temporary period not to exceed June 9, 2022. Ramirez stayed past that date without authorization from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Ramirez, a Mexican citizen, 'obtained, accepted, received, and possessed ' two counterfeit Permanent Resident cards, also known as 'Green Cards, ' and two counterfeit Social Security cards. Ramirez allegedly used one of the counterfeit Green Cards and one of the counterfeit Social Security cards 'for employment purposes, according to federal court records. When HSI agents showed Ramirez his Border Crossing Card, he replied 'This is my visa, ' according to federal court records. When shown the other IDs, Ramirez told agents 'These are not mine. I just have my normal visa … This is a different birthday. These are not my IDs. Those IDs were there when someone else was living there. I do not know who they are.' After 'being asked to tell the truth, ' Ramirez allegedly told agents that he received these IDs 'for an opportunity to stay in the United States.' Two years ago, Ramirez allegedly paid $200 in cash on Maui for a Green Card and Social Security card in Alexander Rodriguez's name, 'because he thought it would help him secure a job in the United States.' Ramirez received the IDs in the mail. He realized they needed to have his real name to cash checks so he paid another $200 for a second set of fake documents in his name. He told agents that he knew 'he could be arrested for having such IDs ' and did not keep in contact with the counterfeiter out of fear of being caught.' Ramirez 'knew that having the IDs was a mistake and apologized multiple times throughout the interview, ' according to an affidavit authored by an HSI agent. Ramos entered the U.S. on Nov. 9, 2019, with authorization to remain in the United States as a tourist for a 'temporary period not to exceed May 8, 2020.' Ramos stayed past his allotted time in the country. From November 2024 until he was arrested June 13, Ramos, who is a Mexican citizen, 'obtained, accepted, received, and possessed a counterfeit Green Card and a counterfeit Social Security card. Ramos initially requested an attorney after he was arrested by HSI agents. He then told agents he didn't need an attorney, according to federal court records, and told them that he paid $150 in cash in Washington for his Green Card and Social Security card. Ramos asked the counterfeiter to ensure the IDs carried a different name because 'he did not want it to affect him legally or affect his tourist visa.' Ramos 'knew that it was wrong to have these IDs but obtained them in hopes of securing employment in the United States. Ramos allegedly told agents he knew he 'did not have a legitimate Social Security number ' assigned to him and knew he was in the U.S. on a tourist visa and not Permanent Resident status. Ramos said he did not know that the numbers on the IDs belonged to real people.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Less than 20% of troops deployed to L.A. are on the ground. A former commander calls that ‘awful'
Less than 20% of the nearly 5,000 National Guard and Marine troops deployed to Los Angeles were actually on the ground in the city as of earlier this week, according to text messages by a state official with direct knowledge of staffing. That level is so low a former National Guard commander called it 'awful' in an interview with the Chronicle and questioned whether the $134 million deployment is justified. Of the 4,946 National Guard members and Marines deployed by President Donald Trump to Los Angeles in response to protests of immigration raids, just 978 were in the city, the state official with firsthand knowledge of National Guard staffing levels wrote Wednesday in the text messages obtained by the Chronicle. 'Federalized National Guard and USMC forces are grossly underutilized,' the state official wrote to another state official. 'That's at 19.77% utilization rate. Insane.' The officials were discussing how the deployment was pulling soldiers away from the National Guard's wildfire mitigation work. The Chronicle is not naming the officials in accordance with its policy on anonymous sources. The former National Guard commander, Brig. Gen. Peter Cross, told the Chronicle that the less than 20% rate is consistent with what he's heard in his role as president of the National Guard Association of California. Even accounting for soldiers working in shifts, he said, soldiers should be working at a rate much closer to 100%. 'It's awful. … So far as I understand, we're not even approaching, under that shifting model, full utilization of the soldiers,' he said. 'That's extremely concerning to me as a former military commander." Democrats have been saying for weeks that the deployment is a waste of money. 'You really have to use the National Guard as a last resort,' said Cross, a retired military police officer who was deployed to the 1992 Los Angeles riots and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. 'This is literally the most expensive option we as a society, as a country, can utilize.' Many of the troops deployed in Southern California in response to the protests are stationed at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, where the military has constructed massive tents to house them. The base is about 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles in Orange County. It typically is used for the National Guard and Army Reserves. Trump began federalizing National Guard troops, who are normally under governors' control, nearly two weeks ago in response to protests over aggressive immigration raids in Los Angeles. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass opposed the deployment, saying that local and state police were sufficiently staffed to handle the protests. Trump argued that the protests had gotten out of hand. 'If Governor Gavin Newscum, of California, and Mayor Karen Bass, of Los Angeles, can't do their jobs, which everyone knows they can't, then the Federal Government will step in and solve the problem, RIOTS & LOOTERS, the way it should be solved!!!' the president wrote in a post on his social media website on Saturday, June 7. Shortly after the post, Trump issued an executive order federalizing 2,000 members of the National Guard for 60 days to respond to protests. The order does not specify that the troops be deployed in California or Los Angeles. Trump has since called up additional National Guard members and has also deployed 700 Marines to respond. The protests in Los Angeles, which grew after Trump deployed the troops, have since calmed significantly. Earlier this week, Bass lifted a curfew she had imposed last week for the area of downtown that has seen the most protests. Newsom has sued to regain control of the National Guard troops. He argues that Trump's federalizing of the troops is illegal and amounts to a dangerous overreach by the president. On Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trump could retain control of the Guard troops while legal challenges proceed in lower courts. 'This brazen abuse of power by a sitting President inflamed a combustible situation putting our people, our officers, and the National Guard at risk,' Newsom said in a speech several days after Trump deployed the troops. 'When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. … California may be first — but it clearly won't end here. Other states are next.' Most of the 300 National Guard members who had been working on a vegetation management team called Joint Task Force Rattlesnake have been taken off the wildfire prevention work as part of the Los Angeles deployment, according to Newsom's office. Newsom has also criticized the deployment for moving National Guard troops who had been doing drug interdiction work at the border. 'You just pulled National Guard I placed at the border who were stopping fentanyl smuggling,' Newsom wrote on social media in response to a post from a Trump administration official. 'Now they're twiddling their thumbs in LA.' Lt. Carl Trujillo, a spokesperson for the California Military Department, referred all questions about the deployment to U.S. Army North Public Affairs. He said that when National Guard troops were deployed to assist with wildfire recovery in Los Angeles earlier this year, they were stationed at the Rose Bowl and a base in Malibu, not the training base in Los Alamitos. He said the base is not typically used to station large numbers of troops for extended periods of time because it is relatively small. U.S. Army North Public Affairs declined to respond to questions about staffing levels and whether it was typical that less than 20% of the deployed troops would be used in Los Angeles on any given day, citing security concerns. The office said that the National Guard troops are being housed at Los Alamitos, while the Marines are located at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, also in Orange County. Photos posted online by the military show the tents at the base in Los Alamitos, with some housing rows upon rows of cots and folding tables set up like a cafeteria. Images taken by a Chronicle photographer from a helicopter that flew near the base show multiple massive tents and other temporary structures that have been erected on the base. Other photos obtained by the Chronicle from inside the base also show soldiers in fatigues walking around the area as well as construction projects with cranes and wooden pallets. A nearby resident, who declined to give his name, said he has a good view of the base from his backyard. He said it's common for troops to stage there for training. He said troops had camped in smaller tents when they arrived, but now are staying in a massive tent that he estimated is longer than a football field but about the same width. The resident described the National Guard troops as 'wonderful neighbors' even if they make noise early in the morning. Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, he said he could hear troops marching down the middle of a road near his home. Cross said it's not surprising that National Guard soldiers would be stationed at the base in Los Alamitos and that it's normal protocol to build massive tents to house soldiers. But he noted that the activity at the base underscores why deploying the Guard is also the most expensive option available in a situation like this. It also takes a personal toll on the soldiers who are deployed, who must leave their families, their jobs and their educational pursuits behind. Typically the Guard should be deployed only when all local law enforcement options are exhausted. That doesn't seem to be the case here, he said. 'This melodramatic talk about people worried about the military shooting someone or being more violent than is necessary — I'm just not worried about that because of the training we have,' he said. 'I'm just skeptical whether we were needed.' In his current role with the California National Guard, Cross oversees the Youth and Community Program, which runs educational programs for struggling teens. The programs have continued to function, he said, even as many of the soldiers who work on them have been deployed. But if the deployment is still happening in a few weeks when the new school session starts, he's worried he'll have to turn more troubled teens away. 'When you're called up, you're pulled up from your employer, from your life,' Cross said. 'You want it to have value, you want it to have purpose, and if you're sitting in your armory, not tasked, that will erode your morale.'
