Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver Faces Assault Charges After Confrontation Outside Newark Immigration Center
U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver, a Democrat representing New Jersey, has been charged with assault following a contentious incident outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark. The charges were announced by Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, an ally and former lawyer for President Donald Trump.
Specifically, Congresswoman McIver faces two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding federal law enforcement officers – one ICE agent and one Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent. The charges stem from a confrontation that occurred on May 9th outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center.
Oversight Visit Escalates to Conflict
The incident took place as Representative McIver, alongside Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and fellow New Jersey Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jr., attempted to conduct an oversight visit at Delaney Hall. The facility, which can house up to 1,000 people, recently reopened after closing in 2017 and was highlighted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the first such facility to reopen under the Trump administration, which is reportedly seeking increased detention capacity.
The lawmakers stated their visit was for the purpose of exercising lawful congressional oversight, particularly regarding the treatment of detainees inside the facility. However, the situation quickly escalated outside the entrance. Videos captured a chaotic scene involving increasingly heated discussions, scuffles, police, ICE agents, journalists, and protesters. Mayor Baraka was arrested during the disturbance on a misdemeanor trespassing charge.
Despite the skirmish, no serious injuries were reported. Members of Congress present, including McIver, were eventually granted access and given a tour of the building after the initial confrontation.
Conflicting Accounts and Political Context
Both sides have offered starkly different accounts of the events leading to the charges. Administration officials, including DHS, claimed the politicians “stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.” In contrast, the Democratic lawmakers asserted that federal agents escalated the situation, particularly by arresting Mayor Baraka.
Video footage released by DHS shows a crowded scene near the facility gate where the mayor was arrested. In the tightly packed group of people and officers, the video shows McIver, who had reportedly moved through a gate to join the group, making contact with an officer with her elbow. However, reports note that bodycam video does not clearly show if the contact was intentional, incidental, or a result of the chaotic jostling. Federal prosecutors and Homeland Security officials, including Secretary Kristi Noem and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, stated the charges followed a review of footage and investigation, emphasizing that assaults on federal law enforcement would not be tolerated.
Mayor Baraka maintains that Delaney Hall personnel opened the gate for him and allowed him to enter the property before he calmly departed when asked to leave. US Attorney Alina Habba subsequently announced that her office was dropping the trespassing case against Mayor Baraka, citing “the sake of moving forward” and expressing a desire for “unified leadership.” Habba also offered to personally give Mayor Baraka a tour of the facility.
McIver Denies Wrongdoing, Cites Political Motivation
Congresswoman McIver has vehemently denied the charges against her, labeling the case as “purely political.” She contends that the charges “mischaracterize and distort” her actions and are intended to “criminalize and deter legislative oversight” of federal facilities. McIver has stated she looks forward to the “truth being laid out clearly in court” and denied allegations of body slamming anyone, maintaining she was “simply there to do [her] job” and that federal agents created the confrontation and chaos.
Leading congressional Democrats have rallied behind McIver, strongly condemning the charges. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democratic leaders called the charges “extreme, morally bankrupt and lacks any basis in law or fact.” They described the prosecution as a “blatant attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate Congress” and interfere with its constitutional oversight duties. They affirmed that members of Congress have the right to visit federal facilities for inspections and stated that McIver and her colleagues did not assault anyone but were instead “aggressively mistreated by illegally masked individuals.”
President Trump, commenting on the case, reportedly stated McIver had been “out of control.”
The prosecution of a sitting member of Congress on allegations unrelated to fraud or corruption is considered rare. The case highlights the intense political friction surrounding immigration policy and facility oversight, particularly given the involvement of individuals closely associated with former President Trump and the differing political affiliations of the key figures involved.
Congresswoman McIver, 38, was first elected in a September 2023 special election and re-elected in November 2024. She previously served as President of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024. Her attorney, Paul Fishman, a former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, has called the decision to charge McIver “spectacularly inappropriate,” arguing that ICE agents were responsible for escalating the situation and that the prosecution is an attempt to shift blame from ICE to the Congresswoman.
References
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwywwqedpl4o
- https://www.npr.org/2025/05/20/g-s1-67870/justice-charges-new-jersey-immigration
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/democratic-rep-lamonica-mciver-charged-with-assault-after-skirmish-at-ice-center-new-jersey-prosecutor-says
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwywwqedpl4o
- https://news4sanantonio.com/news/nation-world/us-rep-lamonica-mciver-charged-with-assault-after-skirmish-outside-ice-detention-center
