U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted Tuesday on federal charges alleging she impeded and interfered with immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center while Newark’s mayor was being arrested after he tried to join a congressional oversight visit at the facility.
Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba announced the grand jury indictment in a post on X.
“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,” Habba said.
McIver, a Democrat, had been charged in a complaint by Habba last month with two assault charges stemming from the May 9 visit to Newark’s Delaney Hall — a 1,000-bed, privately owned facility that Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses as a detention center.
McIver disputed the allegations as baseless and defended her presence at the facility as part of her authorized role as a member of Congress.
Her lawyer, former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, said in a statement that they would challenge the allegations “head-on” in court.
“The legal process will expose this prosecution for what it truly is — political retaliation against a dedicated public servant who refuses to shy away from her oversight responsibilities,” Fishman said.
Habba said two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. A third has a maximum sentence of one year. She characterized the charges as “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers.”
The indictment is the latest development in a legal-political drama that has seen President Donald Trump’s administration take Democratic officials from New Jersey’s largest city to court, tapping into the president’s immigration crackdown and Democrats’ efforts to respond. The prosecution of McIver is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member…
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