A Democratic congresswoman disparaged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month, calling the federal agency a “terrorist organization.” 

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) made the comments while delivering the keynote speech at the 2025 Netroots Nation annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. Netroots Nations is a nonprofit organization “that provides trainings, resources, and connection opportunities to help progressive activists create a more progressive and just world.” During her address, criticized many issues involving illegal immigration, including President Donald Trump, Border Czar Tom Homan, and ICE, claiming the federal agency continuously abuses people’s rights. 

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“In my own district, district 3, we’ve stood up rapid response efforts to defend our communities against Trump,” said Ramirez. “It’s why Tom Homan hates me so much. He said, ‘we’d come to Chicago, but Chicago’s too educated on their rights,’ because he hopes that we don’t know our rights, so they can violate them.”

“Well, Tom Homan, all over the country, we will continue to stand up for our rights,” she added. “We will continue to call out the terrorist organization that is ICE.”

The Democratic congresswoman also bemoaned the era in which we are living, categorizing it as a time of societal disarray and “fascism.”

“And in a time of chaos and fascism, we are creation people in a creation movement, building forward,” Ramirez said.

It’s the second time in less than a week that Ramirez was in the news for making what many perceived to be inflammatory remarks. Previously, Ramirez came under fire for a comment she made during the second Pan-American Congress in Mexico City, Mexico, in which she allegedly said she was “a proud Guatemalan before I am American.”

Ramirez’s congressional webpage describes her as “the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and an American citizen by birthright.”

Homan rebuked Ramirez for the remarks, calling them “disgusting.”

“I think what she said was disgusting, right?” Homan said. “I mean, she’s a sitting U.S Congresswoman, [a] citizen of this country. She is serving at the privilege of her state. Her voters put her in there.” 

“So I think that commitment should be to her State and people who put her in that position,” Homan said. “That should be your constituency.”

Ramirez defended her comments, calling any criticism as “weak” and an attempt to silence her opinions.

“Let’s call it what it is,” Ramirez said. “Today’s attacks are a weak attempt to silence my dissent and invalidate my patriotic criticism of the nativist, white supremacist, authoritarians in government.”