Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois hit the birth lottery. Born in Chicago to illegal immigrant parents, the progressive congresswoman stands as a testament to the American Dream.
Yet instead of showing gratitude to the nation that gave an anchor baby the chance to rise to Congress, she seizes every opportunity to disparage America and condemn its laws.
Speaking in Spanish at the second annual Panamerican Congress in Mexico City earlier this month, Ramirez declared, “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American” — a stunning remark that drew wild applause from the progressive crowd. She went on to accuse the U.S. of prioritizing “imperialism, militarization, conquest, control, competition in its attempt at domination.”
A proud member of the “Squad,” Ramirez was joined at the conference by several of her Democratic colleagues, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, and Jesús Gilberto García of Illinois.
One week later, Ramirez spoke at the 20th annual Netroots Network conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. This event is touted as the largest annual gathering of the progressive movement, where she labeled the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency a “terrorist organization.”
She said, “Well Tom Homan, let me tell you, all over the country we will to continue to stand up for our rights. We will continue to call out the terrorist organization that is ICE.”
Rather startling remarks from a sitting member of Congress, wouldn’t you say?
Soon after arriving in Washington, D.C., in January 2023, Ramirez recounted to CNN her mother’s harrowing journey from Guatemala to the U.S.
Pregnant with Delia and convinced that America would offer her unborn child the best opportunities in life, her mother was determined to reach U.S. soil before giving birth.
According to the story Ramirez grew up hearing, when her mom crossed the Rio Grande, strong currents nearly swept her away. She’d hidden her pregnancy from others on the journey, but in that moment she called out in desperation, “Help! Help! Save me! Save my daughter!” A man did, Ramirez says, but after that day, her mom never saw him again.
CNN reported that in interviews since her November 2022 election to Congress, Ramirez had been touting her “mixed-status family”: her husband is a DACA recipient.
He came to the United States when he was 14. And for years, like hundreds of thousands of other people, he’s relied on the Obama-era program known as DACA, short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which granted certain young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children work permits and protection from deportation.
We are left with a remarkable paradox: the congresswoman from Illinois openly proclaims she is a proud Guatemalan before she is an American, and though she swore an oath to uphold the laws of the United States, she feels entirely free to vilify a federal agency and disregard the nation’s laws.
It’s reasonable to ask — by what logic, or under what standard, is she permitted to remain in Congress?
In the tweet above, the Department of Homeland Security cites a quote from former President Theodore Roosevelt:
There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. … Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our allegiance must be purely to the United States. We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance.
Ramirez does not deserve a seat in the U.S. Congress.
Megyn Kelly’s blunt response to Ramirez’s breathtaking remarks said it best: “Awesome. Go home.”
UPDATE: 8/13, 1:40 p.m.
In the clip below posted by DHS, Ramirez quite matter-of-factly tells an MSNBC panel that half her family members are undocumented. Not too smart to be insulting an agency she may need help from in the near future.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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