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Several New Jersey Democrats were involved in an incident with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Friday when they attempted a visit to a detention facility for “oversight.”
Mayor Ras Baraka was joined by Reps. Bonnie Watson-Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez at Delaney Hall, a federal detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, run by ICE.
Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin explained what happened in posts to X. He wrote:
DHS tells @FoxNews two Democratic members of Congress have “stormed” ICE’s Delaney Hall detention facility in New Jersey with a group of protesters and are currently holed up in/near a guard shack on the property. Fox is told the group waited for the gates to open to allow a bus with ICE detainees to enter the property, then they rushed in past security.
DHS says they believe two of the members of Congress are [Bonnie Watson-Coleman and [Rob Menendez], and video posted online appears to confirm they are both on site at the facility.
Reps Watson-Coleman and McIver posted images to X, saying they were there to exercise their duties.
More: https://t.co/cUd00MrlWz
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 9, 2025
We’re at Delaney Hall, an ICE prison in Newark that opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances.
We’ve heard stories of what it’s like in other ICE prisons. We’re exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves.@RepLaMonica @RepMenendez pic.twitter.com/OIJuePH2XS
— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) May 9, 2025
As congressional members, we have the power to conduct oversight. That’s what we’re here to do.@RepBonnie @RepMenendez pic.twitter.com/VqfNC56xNi
— Rep. LaMonica McIver (@RepLaMonica) May 9, 2025
On Saturday, the group of Democrats said ICE had manhandled and roughed them up during the incident. Then, the Justice Department released body-cam footage of the clash. It appeared to show the politicians being aggressive with the agents, however.
Melugin commented on the footage, saying DHS felt “the video clearly shows [McIver](red clothing) shoving/elbowing her way past a DHS agent to get past the gate and into the property … & that it also shows Congresswoman McIver screaming in the faces of DHS agents.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin appeared on “Fox News Live” on Saturday, telling host Kevin Corke, “If it was a typical U.S. citizen, and they tried to storm into a detention facility that’s housing dangerous criminals or any person at all, they would be arrested.”
McIver responded to criticism Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” taking exception to reports that she had body slammed an agent.
“I honestly do not know how to body slam anyone. There’s no video that supports me body-slamming anyone,” McIver said. “It was a very tense situation. It unfortunately did not have to be like that. They created that confrontation. They created that chaos and then ultimately went to arrest the mayor of the largest city of New Jersey, who is my mayor and my constituent. And it was very difficult to watch that happen.”
“But absolutely, I did not body slam anyone,” she claimed
Based on what was recorded in the video, do you believe McIver should be arrested?
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