United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba filed assault charges against Representative LaMonica McIver, a Democrat from New Jersey, following a confrontation at an ICE detention facility in Newark.
The charges stem from an incident earlier in May where McIver allegedly interfered with federal officers during an unannounced inspection of the facility. The formal charge against McIver is “assaulting, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement.”
The confrontation erupted when McIver and several colleagues tried to inspect conditions at the detention center. Paul Fishman, an attorney for the lawmaker, slammed the prosecution as “spectacularly inappropriate,” arguing that McIver was simply performing her duties.
“Rather than facilitating that inspection, ICE agents chose to escalate what should have been a peaceful situation into chaos,” Fishman said in a statement. “This prosecution is an attempt to shift the blame for ICE’s behavior.”
In a related development, Habba dropped the misdemeanor trespassing charge against Newark Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka, which also came in connection with the protest from Democrats.
“After extensive consideration, we have agreed to dismiss Mayor Baraka's misdemeanor charge of trespass for the sake of moving forward,” Habba commented in a statement.
The cases highlight ongoing tension between Democratic officials and federal immigration enforcement under the administration of President Donald Trump, raising questions about the boundaries of oversight at federal facilities.
