Democrat threatened with arrest says DHS creating "environment of intimidation"
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Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) speaks at a press conference on July 18, 2022, in Washington, DC. Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Take Back the Court Action Fund
One of three Democratic lawmakers whom the Department of Homeland Security said could be arrested over a confrontation that erupted when they sought an oversight visit at a New Jersey ICE facility said Sunday that the agency's threats are creating "an environment of intimidation."
The big picture: New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver say they visited the Delaney Hall detention center last week to do legal oversight when chaos erupted and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for trespassing.
- But DHS has accused the lawmakers of assaulting law enforcement and said they "stormed" the facility, a claim the Democrats reject.
- Lawmakers have said DHS' actions are unjustified because of legal barriers that prohibit federal resources from being used to impede congressional oversight. Members of Congress are not required to give prior notice before an oversight visit, per ICE guidelines.
- Agency spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a CNN interview on Saturday that "there will likely be more arrests coming," and confirmed to Axios' Andrew Solender that the House Democrats may be among them.
- DHS did not respond to an additional request for comment on Sunday.
Driving the news: Asked about DHS' arrest threats, Watson Coleman said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, "we have no idea what they have in mind other than to create an environment of intimidation just by claiming that perhaps we might be subject to arrest."
- "But there's no reason for it," she said in the joint interview alongside Menendez and McIver. "Nothing happened other than the chaos that they created themselves."
- She added, "If anything, we were pushed and shoved."
State of play: Watson Coleman said that when the lawmakers visited the facility, ICE "delayed us, tried to dissuade us" and "disregarded us." She said the lawmakers arrived an hour and a half before Baraka, who has been trying to inspect the facility.
- Watson Coleman said Baraka complied with an order to leave the space he was standing but was arrested "for trespassing on public property, which is absurd."
- Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba said Friday that Baraka was arrested because he "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings ... to remove himself."
Menendez said there were "a lot of opportunities for DHS, for ICE to deescalate the situation." But he said "over 20 armed ICE, HSI officers" engaged with the officials.
- McIver said after the confrontation, the lawmakers were given a tour of the facility and were "offered ... a soda."
The other side: When asked for comment, DHS directed Axios to a video the agency shared to its X account of the scrum outside the facility.
Friction point: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said the threats to arrest members of Congress are "very drastic."
- He added, "I would only do that if they were complicit with a crime."
- McCaul continued, "If they were just visiting a detention center ... I have done that many times. If they are disrupting law enforcement, that's another question."
Zoom out: Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) suggested on "Fox News Sunday" that DHS tried to "set them up," arguing the agency's claims that the lawmakers stormed the facility are "a lie."
- "To be clear, one of those members is 80 years old," he emphasized, in reference to Watson Coleman.
- Moskowitz added: "If this continues to happen, where members of Congress are going to be attacked, physically attacked by the administration, this is going to have reverberations on whether the House can function."
Go deeper: House Dems clash with police at ICE facility, mayor arrested
