'Despicable': Lawmaker tears into Trump's DHS chief after mayor's 'targeting'

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) laid a smackdown on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on MSNBC, over the ongoing effort to prosecute Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka.

Baraka, a progressive candidate for governor, joined a protest along with several members of Congress at Delaney Hall, a large, privately-operated detention facility being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in contravention of local laws prohibiting such facilities from operating in the area. He was arrested on trespassing charges, which he disputes and claims he had every right to investigate the facility for the well-being of his community. Noem defended all of this at a congressional hearing this week, which Ramirez is a member of.

"Congresswoman, based off of your understanding of what you've learned about this case, and certainly what the mayor has offered publicly, do you — have you come to a conclusion, or are you coming to a conclusion, that he was targeted, as the mayor said?" asked former RNC chair and MSNBC commentator Michael Steele.

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"He was absolutely targeted," confirmed Ramirez.

"The idea that Secretary Noem would come before our Homeland Security Committee hearing and attempt to turn it around on him and on members of Congress that sit in that committee is despicable," Ramirez continued. "I mean, he came to do oversight on a facility. He was told to leave and otherwise they'd arrest him. He left and they closed the gate and then opened the gate after talking to who knows who, and then came back and arrested him."

The takeaway, she added, is that "they're wanting to make sure that the American people know that they're willing to go after anyone. This is about fear. This is what authoritarians do, fascists do. They go after judges, members of Congress, and mayors of their own city."

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