Rep Delia Ramirez
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08/13/25
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Facing threats from Republicans who have called for her deportation this week, U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez has refused to back down.
The progressive Guatemalan-American congresswoman from Illinois has become a punching bag in right-wing media this week after comments she made in Spanish were apparently mistranslated by The Blaze,which claimed she said: "I'm a proud Guatemalan, before I'm an American."
It was quickly revealed that the Democrat had, in fact, said she was "very proudly Guatemalan," but "First, I am American."
But this did not stop Republican officials—including Reps. Andy Ogles (Tenn.) and Byron Donalds (Fla.); Trump border czar Tom Homan; and even the official social media account for the Department of Homeland Security, from threatening to strip Ramirez—who is a U.S.-born citizen—of her citizenship and throw her out of the country.
In her first public appearance since the attacks began, at the annual progressive gathering Netroots Nation in New Orleans, Ramirez was defiant.
In an interview with Emily Topping for Current Affairsmagazine, she called the three men who attacked her "cowards."
Of Ogles, who said Ramirez should be kicked off the House Homeland Security Committee, she said, "This is a man that wants to talk about 'oath of office' but violates it every single day."
"I was born in this country just like he was," she added, "and therefore calling for me to be denaturalized and deported is not constitutional, and it's illegal."
She accused Donalds—who said he "never had a chance to meet Ramirez"—of being too afraid to face her directly: "If you don't know me, why are you talking about me? Why don't you pick up the phone and ask me what I think?"
"Because I show up to Congress," she said. "I show up every single week defending Medicaid, Social Security, education, collective bargaining, and the Constitution, something that perhaps he should think about instead of attacking a colleague on Twitter."
The congresswoman said her other Republican attackers were using her as a distraction from the mounting inquiry into President Donald Trump's involvement with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"They don't want you to think about the Epstein files and how their number one job is to protect the pedophile and not protect the American people," Ramirez said. "But I think this is the moment we are living in."
In a keynote
at the Netroots conference Thursday evening, Ramirez addressed that moment with ferocity.
She called out Homan, who has complained that the immigrants in Ramirez's hometown of Chicago are "very difficult" for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest because they are "educated" about their rights.
"He hopes that we don't know our rights so they can violate them," Ramirez said. "We will continue to stand up for our rights, and we will continue to call out the terrorist organization that is ICE."
Attacks on immigrants were just one prong of what she called "the Trump administration's heartless, inhumane, brutal campaign of control all around us."
She said Israel's war on Gaza, which she later described as a "genocide," is also part of this campaign, as are the administration's attacks on transgender people, the homeless, unionized workers, and safety net programs like Medicaid.
"Their campaigns of starvation, displacement, and death, at home and abroad, are meant to break us," she said. "They want our resources. They want our land. They want our freedoms. They want our lives so that they can advance their imperialist authoritarian agendas across the world."
In June, Ramirez led a group of 18 congresspeople who introduced the Block the Bombs Act, which would restrict the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel.
In May, she also introduced the Born in the USA Act, which asserts that the 14th Amendment unequivocally grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States, and declares any attempts to restrict birthright citizenship unconstitutional.
Though neither bill has passed out of the Republican-controlled House and restrictions on weapons sales to Israel have struggled to receive even Democratic support, Ramirez said she still feels cause for optimism—despite what she called "dark times"—by looking at the future she hopes to build.
"It is not enough to simply protect the rights and freedoms we have now," she said. "We will create a future in which working people have every single damn thing they deserve and more."
She spoke of renewing the push for Medicare and housing for all, the Green New Deal, and an increased minimum wage. She also previewed a piece of legislation she plans to introduce in September that would increase taxes on the rich.
"In a time where they attempt to silence us, where they attempt to paralyze us, may we never normalize this moment," she said. "Yes, war is destruction, but we are creation people in a creation movement, and we are building forward."
Watch a video of her appearance below or at this link.
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'Raw political sham': House Democrat torches GOP witness for invoking racist Great Replacement Theory
Brandon Gage July 19, 2023
United States Representative Delia Ramirez (D-Illinois) clapped back at a witness who invoked the controversial and racist "Great Replacement Theory" during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Right-wing lawmakers like House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-New York) have repeatedly referenced GRT — which maintains that white people are being supplanted by foreigners of color — as an excuse to crack down on undocumented immigrants. The conspiracy has also been cited by perpetrators of mass shootings to rationalize murder.
Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing for the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom they allege "created our nation's historic border crisis by implementing intentionally reckless policies, failing to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and ignoring the advice, recommendations, and warnings of experienced law enforcement."
READ MORE: Nebraska Republican invokes racist 'Great Replacement Theory' during debate on six-week abortion ban
Ramirez's remarks came after Chairman Mark Green (R-Tennessee) called on her by the wrong name.
"Ms. Garcia, you're recognized," Green announced.
"Ramirez. Ms. Ramirez," the congresswoman corrected.
"Ms. Ramirez, I'm sorry," Green replied.
READ MORE: 'Their electoral strategy': Tucker Carlson stokes fear among viewers while blaming Dems for 'Great Replacement' theory
"Thank you," Ramirez continued. "And as I think about the hearing now and hearing the witnesses, I think about just last year how a horrific domestic terror attack at Buffalo, New York supermarket left our nation reeling. My colleagues across the aisle offered up their thoughts and prayers, but they offered no actions to address racially and ethnically-motivated violent extremism. It is not lost on me that before murdering ten people at the supermarket last year, the shooter wrote and I quote, 'We are experiencing an invasion on a level never seen before in history.' However, twisted justification the shooter believed he was repelling an invasion of the United States by immigrants from Latin America. Does that sound familiar?" Ramirez asked retired Department of Justice Special Agent in Charge of Special Operations Division Derek Maltz.
"Mr. Maltz, in your testimony you said, 'I know what's going on in America,' so let me ask you. Do you support the assertion that the United States is experiencing a historic invasion by immigrants? That's a yes or no question," Ramirez said.
"Illegal immigrants. Immigrants from around the world, yes," Maltz responded.
"Yes or no," Ramirez reiterated.
"Yes," stated Maltz.
"So you believe that we are experiencing a historic invasion of immigrants?" Ramirez added.
"Yes," Maltz confirmed.
"So despite knowing that the Pittsburgh shooter justified his actions based on the idea of an immigrant invasion to replace white people, despite knowing that invasion ideology was used to justify the shootings in El Paso and Buffalo, you continued to espouse this Great Replacement Theory — an extremist ideology that people like me when my mother crossed the border pregnant with me — don't deserve to be here because we are invading the country?" Ramirez retorted.
"Mr. Chairman, this hearing is not a fact-finding mission," Ramirez concluded. "It's a raw political sham to stoke fear, and it will continue to justify the violence against immigrant communities, and I find that unacceptable."
Watch below via Heartland Signal or at this link.
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