Temperatures rise over House Democrats’ scuffle with ICE agents

Temperatures are rising over an altercation between three Democratic lawmakers and immigration agents at a detention center in New Jersey, as Democrats say the administration is using the incident to improperly target political opposition. 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this week accused Garden State Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver of “committing felonies” during the Friday scuffle with law enforcement at the Delaney Hall detention center and called for the House Democrats to be removed from their committees or censured — drawing sharp backlash from the left, as members of Congress are permitted to make unannounced visits to facilities. 

Democrats have accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of lying about what happened; and after a DHS spokesperson suggested they could face charges, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) warned Trump administration officials that “we are going to have a problem” if arrests transpire. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) cautioned arrests would constitute “a red line.” 

Meanwhile, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) has floated stripping the three Democrats of their committee assignments, arguing their “behavior constitutes an assault” on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. On Tuesday, Rep. William Timmons (R-S.C.) introduced a resolution to censure McIver over what he called a “reckless stunt.” 

While Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) didn’t endorse any proposal, he called the Friday incident “a new low for congressional Democrats” and said House Republicans are weighing next steps to address the “wildly inappropriate behavior.” 

“They can clearly see that we didn't do anything wrong. We were there to do a tour. And we got the tour after [the] arresting of the mayor,” Watson Coleman told reporters Wednesday.  

“So, no, they know we did nothing wrong,” she added of the administration. 

Footage from the incident shows a chaotic scene at the newly opened ICE facility, where the New Jersey Democrats say they were exercising their congressional oversight responsibilities. 

They were joined by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) who was arrested on charges of trespassing. A Democratic candidate for governor, Baraka has denied any wrongdoing.  

Watson Coleman on Wednesday said that if there was any wrongdoing during the incident, it was on the part of the officers who arrested Baraka — and she pushed back on claims that the Democratic lawmakers tried to interfere with law enforcement. 

“Interference with what? The illegal arrest of the mayor on public property?” she told reporters on Capitol Hill. 

“The illegality of the day happened when they went on to public property and arrested the mayor with 20 or so masked, weaponized officers."

DHS has claimed that “a group of protestors,” including Menendez and Watson Coleman, “stormed the gate” at Delaney Hall and “broke into the detention facility.” Noem later appeared to call out McIver, a member of the Homeland Security Committee, telling Fox News that “one of them is supposed to be conducting oversight over ICE, and instead she’s assaulting them.” 

Menendez has stressed that the members of Congress had “been on the premises for hours” before the visit escalated. And Watson Coleman shared footage purportedly showing the lawmakers being let into the facility for an oversight tour, which she said made “the idea that we ‘stormed’ a heavily guarded federal detention center ... absurd.” 

A federal official reportedly told Baraka that he could not join the three New Jersey lawmakers and enter the facility because he isn't a member of Congress, according to the Associated Press.

An NJ.Com analysis of DHS bodycam footage and other clips, in which many of the faces on camera were blurred, indicates that the mayor exited a gated area before agents then brought him back through the gates, where he was handcuffed.

Tensions among officers, lawmakers and onlookers continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gated area, the AP reported.

In one clip of the fracas shared by NJ Spotlight News, McIver could be heard telling officers not to touch her or Watson Coleman as McIver appeared to cling to the elder congresswoman. McIver seemed to push back against a police officer as the lawmakers were crowded, separating the pair. Meanwhile, Menendez appeared to work his way from the edge of the scrum toward McIver, as onlookers watched and recorded the interactions. 

The episode is the latest battle to divide congressional Democrats with the administration and their GOP colleagues. 

Noem, appearing before the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, accused the lawmakers of trespassing. 

“I served as a member of Congress in this body for eight years, and I understand the importance of congressional oversight. What happened on May 9 was not oversight. It was a political stunt that put the safety of our law enforcement officers, our agents, our staff and our detainees at risk,” she said. 

“The behavior was lawlessness, and it was beneath this body. Members of Congress should not break into detention centers or federal facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we certainly would have facilitated a tour.” 

But she was swiftly countered by Democratic members in the hearing. 

“You obstructed and roughed up members of this committee as they attempted to conduct congressional oversight, then you vilified them. But my question is, if they were so bad, why were they allowed to go in after to conduct oversight?” Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) added, noting that lawmakers were still given a tour after the scuffle.

New Jersey Rep. Nellie Pou (D) also hammered Noem for “blatantly ignoring our laws.”  

“The law is very, very clear. Members of Congress can show up unannounced to facilities and ICE must accommodate a tour of their detention centers. The fact that your spokesperson suggested arresting members of Congress who were given a tour of the facility is disturbing, and certainly dangerous,” she told Noem. 

“We will not accept threats or intimidation by anyone at your department or across the administration for exercising our constitutional oversight authority.” 

While McIver sits on the committee where Noem appeared, she did not confront the secretary on the Delaney Hall incident. 

“This is not about me,” she said, adding that there were “many things regarding this administration's homeland security policies that require our immediate attention.” 

Noem got plenty of support from Republicans on the panel, including Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who accused the lawmakers of getting physical with the agents. 

“I am embarrassed by what I saw. Everyone should be. This behavior is utterly unbecoming of a citizen, let alone a member of Congress. Democrats may talk a big game about law and order, but these actions are a violation of sacred principles. Not only have Democrats excused these actions, but they've actually tried to blame ICE for what happened,” he said.  

But even among the GOP, there are some who’ve expressed doubts about the arrest of any congressional colleagues. 

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) earlier this week called the threats to arrest his Democratic colleagues “very drastic” and stressed such a move would only be appropriate if the law was broken. 

“If they were just visiting a detention center, that’s — I’ve done that many times. If they’re disrupting law enforcement, that’s another question,” McCaul told CBS News. 

“I mean, that’s obviously a very drastic move. I would only do that if they were complicit with a crime,” the former prosecutor added. 

To suggestions from Noem and others on the right that the New Jersey lawmakers should face censure in the House, Watson Coleman told The Hill that she didn’t think there’s “any reason” to do so. 

“We didn’t do anything,” she reiterated.