McIver

Sept. 3 (UPI) — Five Republicans in the House joined Democrats Wednesday to block an effort to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., over a confrontation with immigration officers in her district.

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., sponsored a resolution that would have condemned McIver’s actions in May and removed her from her position on the House Homeland Security Committee. The House voted 215-207 to table the measure, with Republican Reps. Don Bacon and Mike Flood of Nebraska, Dave Joyce and Mike Turner of Ohio, and David Valadao of California voting against the censure along with all Democrats. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, voted present.

Turner’s representative said he mistakenly voted against the resolution, which would not have changed the outcome of the vote, Politico reported.

McIver faces three federal charges for allegedly assaulting and interfering with immigration officers outside the Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility in Newark, N.J., during a congressional visit on May 9. U.S. Attorney Alina Habra said McIver forcibly grabbed and slammed an agent with her forearm and struck a second agent.

The counts carry up to eight years in prison if she’s convicted. She pleaded not guilty to the charges during her arraignment in June.

Along with McIver at the oversight inspection were Newark Mayor Ray Baraka, and Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez of New Jersey. Authorities initially arrested Baraka but later dropped the charges against him.

Democrats have called the charges and censure politically motivated. McIver’s lawyers said she didn’t commit any crimes and was simply carrying out her duties as a member of Congress attempting to inspect the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility, but federal agents reacted recklessly and disproportionately.

Garbarino said he voted no on the censure because he believes the Ethics Committee should review the matter. Bacon agreed.

“I don’t support the censure of Rep. LaMonica McIver because I want the Ethics Committee to finish their report on this matter,” he said.

Higgins said McIver was to blame for him pushing the vote, according to Roll Call.

“Had she withdrawn from the Homeland Security Committee, I certainly wouldn’t have offered a resolution, even though censure [is] legitimate and called for,” he said.

WASHINGTON — Just hours after she pleaded not guilty to federal charges brought by the Trump administration, Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey was surrounded by dozens of supportive Democratic colleagues in the halls of the Capitol. The case, they argued, strikes at the heart of congressional power.

“If they can break LaMonica, they can break the House of Representatives,” said New York Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Federal prosecutors allege that McIver interfered with law enforcement during a visit with two other House Democrats to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark. She calls the charges “baseless.”

It’s far from the only clash between congressional Democrats and the Republican administration as officials ramp up deportations of immigrants around the country.

Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed by federal agents, wrestled to the ground and held while attempting to ask a question at a news conference of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. At least six groups of House Democrats have recently been denied entry to ICE detention centers. In early June, federal agents entered the district office of Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and briefly detained a staffer.

Congressional Republicans have largely criticized Democrats’ behavior as inflammatory and inappropriate, and some have publicly supported the prosecution of McIver.

Often in the dark about the Trump administration’s moves, congressional Democrats are wrestling with how to perform their oversight duties at a time of roiling tensions with the White House and new restrictions on lawmakers visiting federal facilities.

“We have the authority to conduct oversight business, and clearly, House Republicans are not doing that oversight here,” said New Jersey Rep. Rob Menendez, one of the House Democrats who went with McIver to the Newark ICE facility.

“It’s our obligation to continue to do it on-site at these detention facilities. And even if they don’t want us to, we are going to continue to exert our right.”

A stark new reality

The prospect of facing charges for once routine oversight activity has alarmed many congressional Democrats who never expected to face criminal prosecution as elected officials. Lawmakers in both parties were also unnerved by the recent targeted shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers — one of them fatal — and the nation’s tense political atmosphere.

“It’s a moment that calls for personal courage of members of Congress,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.). “I wish that we had more physical protection. I think that’s one of those harsh realities that members of Congress who are not in leadership recognize: that oftentimes, we do this job at our own peril, and we do it anyway.”

The arrests and detentions of lawmakers have led some Democrats to take precautionary measures. Several have consulted with the House general counsel about their right to conduct oversight. Multiple lawmakers also sought personal legal counsel, while others have called for a review of congressional rules to provide greater protections.

“The Capitol Police are the security force for members of Congress. We need them to travel with us, to go to facilities and events that the president may have us arrested for,” said Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.).

‘Not a lot of transparency’

As the minority party in the House, Democrats lack the subpoena power to force the White House to provide information. That’s a problem, they say, because the Trump administration is unusually secretive about its actions.

“There’s not a lot of transparency. From day to day, oftentimes, we’re learning about what’s happening at the same time as the rest of the nation,” said Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), who led a prayer for McIver at the Capitol rally.

To amplify their concerns, Democrats have turned to public letters, confronted officials at congressional hearings and used digital and media outreach to try to create public pressure.

“We’ve been very successful when they come in before committees,” said Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), who added that she believed the public inquiries have “100%” resonated with voters.

Tapping into the information pipeline

Congressional Democrats say they often rely on local lawmakers, business leaders and advocates to be their eyes and ears on the ground.

A few Democrats say their best sources of information are across the political aisle, since Republicans typically have clearer lines of communication with the White House.

“I know who to call in Houston with the chamber. I think all of us do that,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas) said of how business leaders are keeping her updated.

Garcia said Democrats “need to put more pressure” on leading figures in the agriculture, restaurant and hospitality sectors to take their concerns about the immigrant crackdown to President Trump’s White House.

“They’re the ones he’ll listen to. They’re the ones who can add the pressure. He’s not going to listen to me, a Democrat who was an impeachment manager, who is on the bottom of his list, if I’m on it at all,” Garcia said.

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) had a working relationship with a for-profit ICE facility in his district until the Department of Homeland Security in February ended reports as part of an agency-wide policy change. A member of Crow’s staff now regularly goes to the facility and waits, at times for hours, until staff at the Aurora facility respond to detailed questions posed by the office.

‘Real oversight’ requires winning elections

Still, many House Democrats concede that they can conduct little of their desired oversight until they are back in the majority.

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) said that “real oversight power and muscle” only comes “when you have a gavel.”

“Nothing else matters. No rousing oratory, no tours, no speeches, no social media or entertainment, none of that stuff,” Veasey said. “Because the thing that keeps Trump up at night more than anything else is the idea he’s going to lose this House and there’ll be real oversight pressure applied to him.”

Brown writes for the Associated Press.

June 25 (UPI) — During a Wednesday arraignment hearing, Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., pleaded not guilty to federal charges arising from her alleged assault of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in May.

The arraignment hearing occurred at the U.S. District Court of New Jersey in Newark, where McIver is charged with three counts of resisting, assaulting, impeding and interfering with federal officers at the Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility in Newark on May 9.

Two counts each carry a maximum penalty of up to eight years in prison, while the third count carries a maximum penalty of a year in prison.

McIver is innocent until proven guilty.

McIver’s legal team says she was carrying out her responsibilities as a member of Congress and did not commit any crimes.

“She was there to inspect an ICE detention facility and to see for herself whether the Trump administration is obeying the laws and Constitution of the United States,” attorney Paul Fishman told media on Wednesday.

“ICE responded by creating a risky and dangerous situation,” Fishman added, “and now the Justice Department is doubling down by trying to punish the congresswoman for doing her job.”

U.S. Attorney Mark McCarren is representing the federal government in the case against McIver.

McIver joined two other members of Congress at the Delaney Hall ICE facility on May 9 to conduct a congressional oversight inspection while an immigration protest event was underway, according to the Department of Justice.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka arrived soon after, and McIver, Baraka and the two other congressional members initially were allowed into a secured area within the facility.

A federal officer then told Baraka he wasn’t allowed in the secure area and must leave, according to the DOJ.

The officer warned Baraka several times to leave or be arrested, which prompted McIver and other members of the congressional delegation to challenge the mayor’s removal.

“When officers moved in to arrest the mayor, McIver and others surrounded the mayor and prevented the officers from handcuffing him,” according to the DOJ.

After Baraka was escorted out of the secured area, federal officers again tried to arrest him, but someone in the crowd yelled, “Circle the mayor,” the DOJ says.

McIver allegedly responded by putting her arms around the mayor to prevent officers from arresting him.

“During her continued attempts to thwart the arrest, McIver slammed her forearm into the body of one law enforcement officer and also reached out and tried to restrain that officer by forcibly grabbing him,” the DOJ alleges.

“McIver also used each of her forearms to forcibly strike a second officer,” the DOJ claims.

Baraka was arrested but was released with no charges filed against him, but McIver faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted on the three charges against her.

NEWARK, N.J. — U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing her of assaulting and interfering with immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center during a congressional oversight visit at the facility.

“They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job,” she said outside the courthouse in Newark after the brief hearing.

McIver, a Democrat, was charged by interim U.S. Atty. Alina Habba, a Republican appointed by President Trump, following the May 9 visit to Newark’s Delaney Hall. Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses the privately owned, 1,000-bed facility as a detention center.

This month she was indicted on three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials. Two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. The third is a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of one year in prison.

During Wednesday’s hearing, McIver stood and told U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper: “Your honor, I plead not guilty.” The judge set a Nov. 10 trial date.

Outside the courthouse, McIver warned that anyone who pushes back against the Trump administration will find themselves in a similar position.

McIver’s lawyer, former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, said McIver pleaded not guilty because she is not guilty. He said federal agents created a risky situation at Delaney Hall.

A message seeking comment Wednesday was left with Habba’s office.

Among those at McIver’s side Wednesday were her family and elected officials, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was outside the detention center with McIver and other legislators on May 9.

Baraka was also arrested on a trespassing charge that was later dropped and is suing Habba over what he called a malicious prosecution.

Baraka accused the Trump administration of using law enforcement as “an appendage of their ideology to begin to hammer us.”

The indictment of McIver is the latest development in a legal-political drama that has seen the Trump administration take Democratic officials from New Jersey’s largest city to court amid the president’s ongoing immigration crackdown and Democrats’ efforts to respond. The prosecution is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption.

A nearly two-minute video clip released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver at the facility inside a chain-link fence just before Baraka’s arrest on other side of the barrier, where other people were protesting. McIver and uniformed officials go through the gate, and she joins others shouting that they should circle the mayor.

The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word “Police.”

It is not clear from police bodycam video if the contact was intentional, incidental or the result of jostling in the chaotic scene.

The complaint alleges that she “slammed” her forearm into an agent and then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him.

The indictment also says she placed her arms around the mayor to try to stop his arrest and says again that she slammed her forearm into and grabbed an agent.

Democrats including New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, who were with McIver at the detention center that day, have criticized the arrest and disputed the charges.

Members of Congress are legally authorized to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without notice. Congress passed a 2019 appropriations bill spelling out that authority.

McIver, 39, first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November.

A Newark native, she was president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and worked in the city’s public schools before that.

Catalini writes for the Associated Press.

Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speak in the Rose Garden of the White House on Monday. Mace wants her House colleague, LaMonica McIver, to be expelled after the Justice Department charged her with allegedly assaulting an ICE enforcement officer. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo

May 24 (UPI) — U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace said she intends to file a resolution to expel her House colleague LaMonica McIver after the Justice Department charged her with allegedly assaulting law enforcement officers.

McIver, who represents a New Jersey district after being elected in November, was arrested after footage showed her elbowing an Immigration and Customs official outside a migrant detention facility, Delaney Hall, in Newark, N.J., on May 9. She was charged Monday.

Mace, who has represented South Carolina in Congress since 2021, wrote Wednesday in a three-page resolution obtained by Axios that McIver “must be held accountable to the highest standards of conduct in order to safeguard the public’s faith in this institution.”

Mace posted on X: “Members of Congress don’t get a free pass to break the law. No one is above the law — not even you, LaMonica.”

McIver, who has denied assaulting law enforcement and was elected to her seat in November, responded in a post on X: “In the South I think they say, ‘bless her heart.’ “

McIver has said she instead was assaulted and accused the Trump administration of a political prosecution. A preliminary hearing has been set for June 11.

The Department of Homeland Security posted video of the incident on X.

Democrats said she has every right to conduct oversight of the detention center.

Mace said she will introduce the resolution but would let the House Ethics Committee consider it, rather than forcing a House floor vote on it.

Republican Rep. Buddy Carter, of Georgia, introduced a resolution to strip committee assignments from McIver and Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, both of New Jersey, for their actions at the detention center.

Expulsion requires a two-thirds majority vote of the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, of Louisian,a said expulsion is “not likely” but they were “looking into what is appropriate.”

In her news release, Mace cited the expulsion of former Rep. George Santos, a Republican from New York, saying it “set precedent for expelling Members charged, but not yet convicted, of serious criminal offenses.” She voted against the measure.

In 2023, Santos was expelled in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, 314-114 with two present and eight not voting after being charged with nearly two dozen criminal counts, including wire fraud and money laundering. Santos was sentenced on April 25 to seven years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors alleged Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey pushed and grabbed officers while attempting to block the arrest of the Newark, N.J., mayor outside an immigration detention facility, according to charges in court papers unsealed on Tuesday.

In an eight-page complaint, interim U.S. Atty. Alina Habba’s office said McIver was protesting the removal of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka from a congressional tour of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark on May 9.

The complaint says she attempted to stop the arrest of the mayor and pushed into agents for Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She faces two counts of assaulting, resisting and impeding an officer.

McIver has denied any wrongdoing and has accused federal agents of escalating the situation by arresting the mayor. She denounced the charge as “purely political” and said prosecutors are distorting her actions in an effort to deter legislative oversight.

Habba had charged Baraka with trespassing after his arrest but dismissed the allegation on Monday when she said in a social media post that she instead was charging the congresswoman.

Prosecuting McIver is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption.

The case instantly taps into a broader and more consequential struggle between a Trump administration engaged in overhauling immigration policy and a Democratic Party scrambling to respond.

Within minutes of Habba’s announcement, McIver’s Democratic colleagues cast the prosecution as an infringement on lawmakers’ official duties to serve their constituents and an effort to silence their opposition to an immigration policy that helped propel the president back into power but now has emerged as a divisive fault line in American political discourse.

Members of Congress are authorized by law to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without advance notice. Congress passed a 2019 appropriations bill that spelled out the authority.

A nearly two-minute clip released by the Homeland Security Department shows McIver on the facility side of a chain-link fence just before the arrest of the mayor on the street side of the fence. She and uniformed officials go through the gate and she joins others shouting they should circle the mayor. The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point, her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word “Police” on it.

It isn’t clear from body camera video whether that contact was intentional, incidental or a result of jostling in the chaotic scene.

The complaint says she “slammed” her forearm into an agent and then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him.

Tom Homan, President Trump’s top border advisor, said during an interview on Fox News on Tuesday that “she broke the law and we’re going to hold her accountable.”

“You can’t put hands on an ICE employee,” he said. “We’re not going to tolerate it.”

McIver, 38, first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November. A Newark native, she served as the president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and worked in the city’s public schools before that.

House Democratic leaders decried the criminal case against their colleague in a lengthy statement in which they called the charge “extreme, morally bankrupt” and lacking “any basis in law or fact.”

Catalini, Richer and Tucker write for the Associated Press.

1 of 2 | The U.S. Department of Justice on charged Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., with counts related to “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement” during a demonstration at an ICE facility. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

May 20 (UPI) — The U.S. Justice Department charged Rep. LaMonica McIver in connection with her alleged actions during an incident at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in her congressional district.

U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba made the announcement via an X post that stated McIver, D-N.J., has been charged with counts related to “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.”

The charges stem from a confrontation that occurred earlier on May 9 at the Delancey Hall ICE detention prison in Newark. McIver, along with fellow New Jersey Democratic Reps. Rob Menendez and Bonnie Watson Coleman attempted to reportedly inspect the facility where as many as 1,000 undocumented migrants are being held.

McIver, Menendez and Watson Coleman, as well as Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, were allegedly involved in a physical confrontation between demonstrators and ICE agents. Baraka was arrested at the scene and charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor, but Habba noted in the press release the charge against him has since been dropped “for the sake of moving forward.”

Habba further explained she has invited Baraka to tour Delancy Hall.

However, she alleged that McIver “assaulted, impeded and interfered with law enforcement,” and “that conduct cannot be overlooked.” She also claimed she has “persistently made efforts to address these issues without bringing criminal charges,” and has given McIver “every opportunity to come to a resolution, but she has unfortunately declined.”

The statement did not mention if there is any intention to take McIver into custody.

McIver also released a statement Monday, in which she said she and the other Representatives present “were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before,” and that the “visit should have been peaceful and short.”

Instead, she alleged, “ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka.”

“The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she said. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court.”