U.S. Congresswoman LaMonica McIver has been indicted on federal charges that she allegedly obstructed and interfered with immigration officers outside a detention center in New Jersey. This incident occurred when the Mayor of Newark found himself being arrested while attempting to participate in a congressional oversight visit at the facility.
Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, announced the grand jury indictment, reminding the public that “While people are free to express their views for or against particular policies, they must not do so in a manner that endangers law enforcement and the communities those officers serve.”
The charges against McIver, a Democrat, emerged from an encounter during her visit to Newark’s Delaney Hall, a privately owned detention center. McIver has refuted the allegations as groundless, asserting her presence at the facility was due to her official obligations as a Congress member.
McIver’s legal counsel, former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, vowed to contest the allegations decisively in court, suggesting the prosecution is politically motivated. Habba confirmed two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison, and a third can result in a maximum sentence of one year.
The indictment is the latest episode in a legal and political power struggle that has seen the Trump administration confronting Democratic officials from New Jersey’s largest city. The prosecution of McIver is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption.
Reports from the same visit indicate that Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on a trespassing charge, which was later dismissed. Baraka is currently suing Habba for what he alleges was a malicious prosecution.
Video footage released by the Homeland Security Department depicts McIver at the facility side of a chain-link fence just before the mayor’s arrest. The video shows McIver in a closely clustered group of people and officers, and at one point, her elbows appear to make contact with an officer. However, the intentionality of this contact remains unclear.
Additional New Jersey Representatives, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, who were present at the detention center that day, along with other Democrats, have criticized the arrest and disputed the charges.
According to reliable sources, members of Congress are authorized by law to enter federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight duties, even without prior notice. This authority was explicitly outlined in a 2019 appropriations bill.
McIver, 38, was elected to Congress in a special election last September following the death of Representative Donald Payne Jr. She was re-elected to a full term in November. Before her Congress tenure, she served as the president of the Newark City Council from 2022-24 and worked in the city’s public schools.
The facts, as we now know them, involve a complex entanglement of law enforcement, political retaliation allegations, and the responsibilities of elected officials.