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Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said in an interview that he never thought he would be forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference as he tried to ask DHS secretary Kristi Noem a question in June, arguing it should be a “wake-up call.”
“Never would I have imagined that that would have happened — that that would be a response to a question, especially to a senator trying to ask a question,” he told The New York Times’ Lulu Garcia Navarro.
Padilla was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a June press conference Noem had in Los Angeles after he tried to ask a question of the head of Homeland Security, who was speaking about the anti-ICE riots in the city.
The NYT asked Padilla if Noem had apologized to him in their conversation after the incident. Padilla has insisted he wasn’t interrupting the press conference and just wanted to ask a question.
Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, is removed from the room after interrupting a news conference with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles on June 12, 2025. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
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“No apology, but honestly not surprised, just given how this administration tends to carry itself,” he continued. “I wish I could say it was more substantive or more constructive. She finally did say, ‘Well, I understand you’re asking for more information. What’s your question?’”
Padilla said his removal from the press conference should be a wake-up call, arguing it was part of a bigger problem with the Trump administration.
“It was clear to me that if that’s how this administration would respond to a senator with a question, imagine not just how they could treat so many other people, but how they are treating so many other people when the cameras are not on. This should be a wake-up call,” he told the Times.
The Democratic senator pointed to National Guard presence in cities such as Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. and said it was a “heady time” for the country.
Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat from California speaks during a news conference with immigration experts, DACA recipients, and Dreamers in Washington, D.C. on June 11, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Asked if he thought his removal was deliberate or a mistake, Padilla said, “At minimum, it was a hell of an overreaction.”
“But they knew who I was. Just like Vice President Vance knows my name, but he chose to call me Jose. We served together for two years in the Senate, for Christ’s sake. He knows who I am, but it’s the way they choose to go about things,” he said, referring to Vice President JD Vance calling Padilla “Jose” after the incident.
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Sen. Alex Padilla speaks during a press conference at the Federal Building on Wilshire Blvd Thursday, June 12, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
