Department of Justice (DOJ) US Attorney Alina Habba recently announced that she was filing charges against Democrat Representative LaMonica McIver (NJ) after the latter had an altercation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Attorney Habba filed charges against Representative McIver for the latter’s alleged “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.”
Habba claims the charges were her last option, which she ultimately resorted to after McIver “declined” to cooperate with the DOJ to find an alternative resolution.
McIver is charged for incidents that recently occurred at Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center in New Jersey.
McIver had formed part of a group of Democrat lawmakers who attempted to visit the detention center but were prevented from doing so by ICE agents, at which point the lawmakers pushed past the agents to force their way into the building.
Body cam footage reveals McIver pushing ICE personnel to clear a path forward.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem supported the charges against McIver as she thanked ICE agents for their service and condemned McIver’s actions.
“No one is above the law,” said Secretary Noem. “If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Conversely, Democrat lawmakers have criticized the criminal charges, defining them as political and representing a weaponization of justice.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) commended McIver for “defending” her oversight rights as a congresswoman and derided the charges as “baseless” and “a brazen attack” on Congress’s oversight authority.
“Congresswoman McIver was conducting legitimate oversight of an ICE facility as permitted by law,” said Representative Pelosi. “I join my Democratic colleagues in the House in extending my full support to her.”
McIver has denied any wrongdoing and similarly called the charges “political” and that they “mischaracterize and distort” her actions.
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