Alleging violations of the U.S. Constitution and federal law during the chaotic and at times violent immigration crackdowns in Chicago and Minneapolis, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly and roughly 70 Democratic colleagues on Wednesday moved to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a largely symbolic move as Republicans maintain a narrow House majority.

Kelly, speaking at a Washington news conference, acknowledged the long odds of moving the articles of impeachment against Noem through the GOP-controlled House. But the seven-term congresswoman from south suburban Lynwood, who is running in Illinois’ March 17 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, said growing support for the effort and a groundswell of public opposition to the tactics of federal immigration agents, most recently the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis a week ago, will put pressure on Noem.

“Maybe I’m an optimist, but I’m hoping against hope that when she sees … the momentum, the public, the polls, that are so much against what she’s doing, that she will realize that she’s a public servant and that she’s serving the American people, and the American people do not like what she’s doing or what they’re seeing,” Kelly said.

The first step toward removing Noem from office would be for the Republican-controlled House to approve the charges in the impeachment resolution, an unlikely scenario even after some GOP lawmakers have broken with party leadership and President Donald Trump recently on issues including the release of files on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the extension of Affordable Care Act tax subsidies. The Republican-controlled Senate would then have to vote to convict Noem and remove her from office by a two-thirds majority vote.

The 10-page resolution, which includes three articles alleging Noem obstructed Congress, violated the public trust and engaged in self-dealing, had been in the works for some time and “wasn’t just a knee-jerk reaction” to recent events, Kelly said, but she and other supporters felt that “enough was enough.”

The first article of impeachment alleges Noem has “willfully and systematically refused to comply with the law” by denying members of Congress access to ICE facilities and instituting a seven-day notice requirement for lawmakers seeking entry. While that scenario has played out several times at the ICE processing center in west suburban Broadview, the impeachment resolution highlights instances in California and elsewhere.

Focusing largely on the conduct of federal immigration agents in the Chicago area during last fall’s Operation Midway Blitz, the second article alleges Noem “has repeatedly violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, the First and Fourth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and due process rights of American citizens by directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make widespread warrantless arrests, forgo due process, and use violence against United States citizens, lawful residents, and other individuals.”

In addition to the fatal shooting last week in Minnesota, the resolution highlights the dramatic raid on an apartment building in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood in September, during which “federal agents used military-style tactics to raid apartments, dragging United States citizens, military veterans, and seniors out of their apartments in zip ties and detaining residents, several U.S. citizens, for hours”; the use of “tear gas on children having a Halloween parade” in the Old Irving Park neighborhood in violation of a federal court order; and the October shooting that wounded Marimar Martinez after she allegedly rammed a Border Patrol agent’s vehicle, though a federal judge in November dismissed charges against Martinez.

Finally, Kelly’s resolution alleges Noem engaged in self-dealing, using “the cover of a national emergency to bypass the competitive bidding process and direct federal dollars to close associates,” specifically through “a $200 million ad campaign for recruiting ICE agents.” Noem awarded multimillion-dollar, no-bid contracts to GOP-led firms, including one that formed days before the award, and subcontracted with a company run by the husband of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, the resolution alleges.

In a statement, a Homeland Security spokesperson dismissed the allegations and said Kelly’s actions were motivated by politics.

“Rep. Kelly is more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually cleaning up her crime-ridden Chicago district,” the statement said. “We hope she would get serious about doing her job to protect American people, which is what this Department is doing under Secretary Noem.”

Kelly represents a district that stretches from the South Side of Chicago to Danville in central Illinois.

Underscoring the low chances of a Noem impeachment before Democrats have a chance to take back control of the House in November’s midterm elections, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said at a separate news conference Wednesday that members of his party “haven’t had a caucus-wide conversation on that issue.”

“Clearly, we’re going to have to explore what accountability looks like as it relates to an out-of-control administration,” Jeffries said in response to a question about calls from some House Democrats to impeach Trump, Noem or other administration officials.

Even among Kelly’s 13 fellow Democrats in Illinois’ 17-member congressional delegation, only eight had signed on as co-sponsors of the impeachment resolution as of Wednesday afternoon. Those who didn’t co-sponsor included the state’s two Latino members of Congress, U.S. Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García and Delia Ramirez, both of Chicago.

Among those co-sponsoring the resolution is Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, who is running against Kelly in the Democratic Senate primary.

In December, Ramirez sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee requesting an investigation into Noem’s potentially impeachable offenses. In response to a social media post Tuesday highlighting criticism of progressive Democrats who’ve embraced calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ramirez responded, “Fine! Abolish ICE AND DHS.”

Noting that Ramirez first called for Noem’s impeachment in September, a spokesman for the two-term congresswoman said she supports all efforts to hold the Homeland Security secretary accountable but remains “focused on working with the Judiciary Committee on a caucus-wide strategy to successfully have Noem removed — through resignation, termination, or impeachment.”

“If Congresswoman Kelly’s articles of impeachment come to the floor, Ramirez will vote for them,” spokesman Jowen Ortiz Cintrón wrote in an emailed statement.

The other Democrats who hadn’t signed on included three who represent suburban districts that could be more competitive in the November general election: Brad Schneider of Highland Park and Bill Foster and Lauren Underwood, both of Naperville. None of the three responded to requests for comment on the impeachment resolution.

Underwood is the top Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees Homeland Security’s budget.