US congresswoman charged after dispute at migrant detention site

By AFP

The US Justice Department has charged a congresswoman with assaulting law enforcement officers after a dispute between elected officials and federal agents outside a migrant detention facility in New Jersey.

Representative LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat, was charged on Monday with "assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement," interim US attorney Alina Habba said, following the incident in Newark.

The city's mayor, Ras Baraka, was briefly detained while protesting against the newly reopened Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

The incident at the center was the latest flashpoint in Democrats' fight against US President Donald Trump's crackdown on what he calls an "invasion" of undocumented migrants.

McIver dismissed the charges against her as "purely political."

Soon after Trump returned to the White House in January, ICE signed a billion-dollar, 15-year contract with outsourcing giant Geo to transform Newark's Delaney Hall into a 1,000-bed detention center.

Local authorities, however, have sued to prevent the site from operating, in line with their "sanctuary city" policies.

Officials, including McIver and Baraka, gathered at the center on May 9, as part of an oversight visit that turned into a clash at the gates between politicians, demonstrators and law enforcement officers.

Accused of illegal trespass, Baraka, a Democrat, was briefly arrested and handcuffed at the site by federal officials.

Video published by the US Department of Homeland Security appeared to show McIver being pushed around in a crowd, and striking an officer.

It is not clear whether the contact was deliberate or the result of the crowd jostling around her.

In a statement published on Monday on X, Habba said the trespass charge against Baraka had been dismissed but accused McIver of violating the law.

Habba said she had made efforts to address McIver's actions "without bringing criminal charges" but the congresswoman had declined.

At the heart of the dispute is how much authority US lawmakers have to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch, and how they can exercise that right.

McIver condemned the charges in a statement on X.

"The charges against me are purely political -- they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight," she wrote.

For several weeks, the Delaney Hall site has been the target of protests by Democratic elected officials opposed to its operation.

Four months into his second term, President Trump has launched a wide-ranging campaign against illegal immigration, with some arrests and deportations of migrants deemed arbitrary and without due process.