Democrat Rep. Delia Ramirez (D., Ill.) is locked into a fierce fight with the White House over controversial remarks at the second annual Panamerican Congress held in Mexico, including declaring, “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.” Ramirez does not deny making the remarks but insists that there is a double standard for “my white colleagues [who] identify as Irish-American, Italian-American, or Ukrainian-American to honor their ancestry.”Ramirez was also criticized for her criticism of the United States as being “addicted to war” and threatening the world with its “imperialism, militarization, conquest, control, competition in its attempt at domination.”
The White House criticized Ramirez as well as the appearance of other high-profile Squad members, Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA): “These Democrats’ comments are despicable and underscore their commitment to putting Americans last.”
The comments of Ramirez have clearly struck a nerve on both sides. For my part, I am very proud of both my Irish-Sicilian background. My Sicilian grandparents came to this country at the turn of the century. They were deeply proud of their heritage but always insisted that their children identify as Americans first and foremost. As I discuss in my forthcoming book, Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution (Simon & Schuster 2026), we share a common identity of a people who are joined by core principles of liberty and individual rights. This country is unique because it is composed largely of people who came here to embrace a new identity of shared values.
I was surprised that Ramirez did not simply say that ranking was a poor choice of words. There is a difference between calling oneself a Guatemalan-American and saying that you are Guatemalan first and an American second. She has often publicly discussed how she is “the wife of a DACA recipient. I am the daughter of Guatemalan working immigrants,” including a mother who crossed the Rio Grande while pregnant. It is a harrowing story of many who came to this country to seek a new identity and a better life. My grandparents came to this country in the filthy hold of a wooden ship where immigrants died and two gave birth. What drove them was the promise of a new start in a nation based on freedom and opportunity. This country has never had prouder Americans.
The anger over Ramirez is not about how she defines herself, but about what it is to be an American. It is a shared identity, an article of faith that defines us all. That does not mean that Ramirez does not love this country. You can criticize this country and still love it. However, she should also realize how her ranking insults many citizens who cherish their heritage but embrace their core identity as Americans.
I don’t think that Mr. Turley would refer to himself as Italian/Irish-American, but just as American. Most people I know who are decendents of immigrants do not classify themselves by placing a heritage adjective before American. They call themselves Americans. Period. I emigrated to the US in 1994, I never refer to myself as Dutch-American. I am a naturalized citizen and a proud American. Putting people in identity boxes (in this case of ancestry) is a Democrat Party play to divide. It serves to undermine the unity based on shared values Mr. Turley refers to. Let’s be clear: the only reason to divide is to conquer.
Didn’t she take an oath on taking office pledging “true faith and allegiance” to the United States and to defend it against all enemies (including presumably, if it came down to it, Guatemala)? Her statement suggests strongly that isn’t true.
Yeah, that’s the way I understand taking an oath of office. If he allegiance is to Guatemala then she’s welcome to return to that shithole and make a live there among the savages.
White people are expected to live under all kinds of double standards, so she can suck it.
The horror. Yet the reTHUGlicans are insistent that Americans show Israel more allegiance than to America. Weird.
“The horror. Yet the reTHUGlicans are insistent that Americans show Israel more allegiance than to America. Weird.”
Oh look, the Hamas wing of the Democrat party (but then I repeat myself) has arrived. Don’t you have any Jews to heckle today, loser?
Wrong.
GOP ‘Divide’ over Israel Is Mostly Fiction
“The real breakdown in support for Israel is on the Democratic side of the aisle.”
By Matthew Continetti
https://www.thefp.com/p/gop-divide-over-israel-is-mostly-fiction?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
“GOP ‘Divide’ over Israel Is Mostly Fiction”
Hope springs eternal among the leftist fascists. With more allies, and they might finally solve that pesky Jewish “problem”.
*. Adolph lost the war. That makes u a loser, BMan.
You can pull an ignorant man off the Nazi streets—but the Nazi still lives in him.
BMan, your accent may be American, but everything else screams Nazi.
Democrat Rep. Delia Ramirez (D., Ill.) is seeking attention and can get it only by acting outrageously. It’s unlikely she would have earned a column by Turley and the exposure that brings had she instead proposed a plan to reduce crime in Chicago. It would have been one more useless plan put forth by a useless politician in a city misrun by useless politicians.
Members of Congress who meet the marginal requirements for membership often adopt what I call the “Hulk Hogan” path to fame. Hulk had to excel in a profession plied by carefully straddling the line between fact and fiction. Most of us cannot recall or name more than one or two professional wrestlers. Hulk was an exception, but only because he was outrageous in his behavior. He rode his persona to great heights.
Ramirez, like Hogan, has only one way to rise above the herd and escape the anonymity of being just an ordinary functionary of little repute and accomplishments. Instead of ripping her shirt apart, she simply utters outrageous claims and gets the attention she wants. By rewarding this behavior, we can expect more of it. Hulk, at least, was a proud and successful American.
The anger over Ramirez is not about how she defines herself,…
Few things trigger my impulse to say WTF more than seeing someone demonstrating allegiance to a foreign country while being blessed to hold a government office in our country.
Yes, we have a natural right to freedom of conscience, but there is no natural right to hold a government office. Where that conscience conflicts with allegiance to this country, then that should be an immediate expulsion from all US government service. Next up, loss of US citizenship and deportation to their favored country.
“there is no natural right to hold a government office”
I can hear district court printers warming up as we speak.
All the more the reason why the Senate need to pass the SAVE Act. I’m fairly certain that it already had passed the House. Once the Act pass the obstacle known as the Senate, I know with absolute certainty that Trump will sign the Act into law.
“Where that conscience conflicts with allegiance to this country, then that should be an immediate expulsion from all US government service.”
Maybe, depending on circumstances. I don’t at all like what she said. But it could have been a slip of the tongue, or it could have been mere pandering to her Mexican audience (she *is* a politician, after all, and her lips were moving). If she has done anything specific to advance Guatemala’s interests over those of the U. S. in her role as a member of Congress, and that can be demonstrated, then I agree that she should be removed. Absent any such evidence, she should be disciplined and removed by the method intended by the Founders – in the voting booth. We risk damaging ourselves with gratifying but ultimately unconstitutional vendettas against those with whom we disagree. YMMV.
I used to believe that should be the process. I have however had a recent change of heart when it comes to the law and rights. FAFO should never lean in favor of harm to our country. I believe views that conflict with republicanism, capitalism, constitutionalism, allegiance to our country have no place in government office or country. Remove them before, not after they do harm. (see Comey, Strzok, Clapper, Clinton)
Ms. Ramirez has a fundamental flaw in her reasoning: no one elected her to represent GUATEMALA!!! Seriously? She is supposed to be representing her constituency in the UNITED STATES. If she is that hung up on her native homeland perhaps she would be better suited LIVING THERE!!!
LOL….
I posted this info about her on the last thread.
There won’t be a single Dem constituent of Ramirez that won’t vote for her in the next election. America First is not in the Dem vocabulary and they are proud of that.
Two things:
First, I think that is an old picture
Second, I disagree with the Professor – it is about how she defines herself. She has acknowledged that she prefers a foreign country to the country in whose legislature she sits. Her comments may not serve as a basis for expulsion from the House, but she does not deserve to sit there
She shouldn’t be a congresswoman.
One can appreciate their heritage (where they came from) while also being proud of one’s citizenship as it stands today.
No one who says they are of Irish or Italian descent claims that they themselves currently are Irish or Italian.
Every day Im surprised at how the democrats can come out with someone dumber than Cortez or Crocker
Mr Turley…you gave her too much credit. She clearly made a statement and stood by it. She is American second , Guatemalan first…..period as Mr Obama would say
What color is stupid? I have no respect for anyone who claims to be specially privileged due to their skin color. This person should resign from Congress and emigrate to the nation of which she is most proud and stand for office there. She clearly does not represent those who elected her.
Typical dem. They hate the USA and will push to change it. Too another slum.
DustOff,
Well, she is a Democrat from the failed state of IL. They just voted to increase benefits for two Chicago’s pension funds while NOT providing additional funding to cover those benefits.
Gov. JB Pritzker signs Chicago police and fire pension bill that’s expected to cost city billions
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/21/gov-jb-pritzker-signs-chicago-police-and-fire-pension-bill-thats-expected-to-cost-city-billions/
Take a good long look at the state of IL and consider that IL gov Pritzker may have 2028 WH ambitions. Same goes for CA gov Newsome. Just think of all the damage they have done to their states and they want to be president?
Upstate
Look at all the damage they have done, and now they want to do it to the whole country.
If you need a response to this scenario just use the language of J . Turley. He is correct. This is an easy one.
Agree with you Professor Turley. My great grandparents emigrated from Germany and Ireland and they valued their heritage and the Germans spoke alot of German, but we were Americans always, proud to be U.S. citizens.
What a nauseating attitude for an immigrant to have. And her excuse is BS. Get the hell back to Guatemala then!
If I thought what she meant was what this piece elucidates, it’d be fine, but I think she meant precisely what she said.
Given that, at the least, I don’t know how I feel about her being an actual representative. She seems to have the entitlement and its accompanying ignorance of far too many in her cohort. Tough to get behind, when American priorities are the sole reason her job exists.
“That does not mean that Ramirez does not love this country. ”
NARRATOR: She doesn’t.