WASHINGTON − The Department of Homeland Security is actively investigating Democratic lawmakers involved in a confrontation with officials at an ICE facility in New Jersey, spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin confirmed.
Three Democratic lawmakers from New Jersey − Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez − faced off against DHS guards on May 9 outside the Delaney Hall detention center shortly after the officers moved to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, according to CNN.
Baraka was allegedly trying to get inside the facility, but the mayor said later he was arrested after leaving.
Members of Congress, by law, can visit immigrant detention facilities unannounced. Watson Coleman, McIver and Menendez were not arrested, said Ned Cooper, a spokesperson for Watson Coleman. The three members of Congress had visited the facility unannounced.
McLaughlin told CNN on Saturday that the department is “actively investigating” the lawmakers and that arrests are “definitely on the table.”
“We actually have body camera footage of these members of Congress assaulting these ICE enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer,” she claimed.
But Watson Coleman said in a post on X that an ICE agent “physically shoved” her.
“We entered the facility, came BACK OUT to speak to the Mayor, and then ICE agents began shoving us,” she said.
Baraka told CNN he’s charged with federal trespassing, a misdemeanor he called “humiliating.” He said he had been inside the gates of the facility for over an hour, as members of Congress were inside the facility. Agents arrested him outside the gate, after he had left, he said.
“I didn’t go there to break any laws. I didn’t break any laws,” Baraka told CNN on Friday. “I was there as the mayor of the city, exercising my right and duty as an elected official, you know, supporting our congresspeople preparing for a press conference that was supposed to happen there.”
Contributing: Ricardo Kaulessar and Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DHS investigates Democratic lawmakers over ICE lockup scuffle
