Tag Archives: LaMonica McIver

Guardian: Outrage as DHS moves to restrict lawmaker visits to detention centers

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The US Department of Homeland Security is now requiring lawmakers to provide 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers, according to new guidance.

The guidance comes after a slew of tense visits from Democratic lawmakers to detention centers amid Donald Trump’s crackdowns in immigrant communities across the country. Many Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks have either been turned away, arrested or manhandled by law enforcement officers at the facilities, leading to public condemnation towards Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (Ice) handling of such visits.

Lawmakers are allowed to access DHS facilities “used to detain or otherwise house aliens” for inspections and are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility”, according to the 2024 Federal Appropriations Act.

Previous language surrounding lawmaker visits to such facilities said that “Ice will comply with the law and accommodate members seeking to visit/tour an Ice detention facility for the purpose of conducting oversight,” CNN reported.

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In response to the updated guidance, Mississippi’s Democratic representative and the ranking member of the House committee on homeland security, Bennie Thompson, condemned what he called the attempt by the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, to “block oversight on Ice”.

“Kristi Noem’s new policy to block congressional oversight of Ice facilities is not only unprecedented, it is an affront to the constitution and federal law. Noem is now not only attempting to restrict when members can visit, but completely blocking access to Ice field offices – even if members schedule visits in advance,” Thompson said.

“This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny member visits to Ice offices across the country, which are holding migrants – and sometimes even US citizens – for days at a time. They are therefore detention facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie.”

Outrage as DHS moves to restrict lawmaker visits to detention centers
Elected officials told to give 72 hours’ notice before visiting immigration facilities, with some sites completely off limits

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/19/dhs-immigration-detention-center-visits-new-guidance

Slate: Trump Promises to Keep Terrorizing Blue Cities. It Might Come Back to Haunt Him.

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Donald Trump won the presidency in part on promises to deport immigrants who have criminal records and lack permanent legal status. But his earliest executive orders—trying to undo birthright citizenship, suspending critical refugee programs—made clear he wants to attack immigrants with permanent legal status too. In our series Who Gets to Be American This Week?, we’ll track the Trump administration’s attempts to exclude an ever-growing number of people from the American experiment.

President Donald Trump’s immigration raids have disrupted life in Los Angeles in a way the mayor is comparing to COVID; they’ve created a climate of fear that’s driving people into hiding and hurting local businesses. This week, the president promised to expand those raids in blue cities, all in a futile attempt to hit 1 million deportations by the end of the year. After suggesting last week that ICE would stop targeting the agriculture and hotel industries, which disproportionately rely on immigrant labor, the administration also walked back that guidance.

And a troubling trend is emerging: As Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts get more aggressive and reckless, several elected officials who attempted to conduct oversight or question what is being done have been arrested.

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“Overwhelmingly, Americans do not want ICE raids that focus on those without criminal records. That’s why polls show that Trump is losing voter approval on these key issues,” Mukherjee said.

Trump Promises to Keep Terrorizing Blue Cities. It Might Come Back to Haunt Him.
And Democrats keep getting arrested while trying to hold ICE accountable.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/06/donald-trump-brad-lander-ice-raid-los-angeles.html

CNN: DHS issues new guidance for lawmakers visiting ICE facilities after tense confrontations

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After a spate of tense encounters involving lawmakers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, the Department of Homeland Security is asking members of Congress to provide 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers, according to new guidance.

Under the annual appropriations act, lawmakers are allowed to enter any DHS facilities “used to detain or otherwise house aliens” to inspect them as part of their oversight duties. The act outlines that they are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility.”

The agency’s new memo also seeks to differentiate ICE field offices from detention facilities, noting that “ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities” and therefore do not fall under the appropriations act provision.  

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, called the move “unprecedented” and an “affront to the Constitution and Federal law.”

DHS issues new guidance for lawmakers visiting ICE facilities after tense confrontations | CNN Politics
The agency’s new memo seeks to differentiate ICE field offices from detention facilities, noting that “ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities” and therefore do not fall under the appropriations act provision.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/19/politics/dhs-ice-visits-congress-lawmakers

Western Journal: Noem Nails It: DHS Releases New ICE Visitation Rules Maxine Waters and Jerry Nadler Will Hate

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You almost wish Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would make congressional Democrats write it 100 times on the Capitol Hill blackboard: “Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities are not for photo opportunities.”

However, she has issued guidance that works just as well: On Wednesday, the DHS released new restrictions that bar lawmakers from turning ICE facility visits into spectacles, including advance notice of the visit and limits on the detainees they can meet with individually.

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The new DHS guidelines require lawmakers to give ICE field offices 72 hours notice and their staff to give 24 hours notice before any visits.

Furthermore, if they want to meet with any of the inmates, they have to provide a list of who they want to speak to or give 48 hours notice to allow for the creation of a sign-up list for detainees who want to speak to lawmakers.

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Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi was the go-to guy for the freakout du jour when it came to DHS’ new visitation guidelines.

“There is no valid or legal reason for denying Member access to ICE facilities and DHS’s ever-changing justifications prove this,” said Thompson, who apparently lacks access to social media or this show on cable that airs 24 hours a day that some people like to call “the news.”

“To be clear, there is no agency or department that is ‘too busy’ for oversight. If ICE has nothing to hide, DHS must make its facilities available,” he said via a statement.

“Kristi Noem’s new policy to block congressional oversight of ICE facilities is not only unprecedented, it is an affront to the Constitution and Federal law. Noem is now not only attempting to restrict when Members can visit, but completely blocking access to ICE Field Offices — even if Members schedule visits in advance. No matter how much she and [President] Trump want to force us to live under their authoritarian rule, ICE is not above oversight and the Department must follow the law,” he added.

“This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny Member visits to ICE offices across the country, which are holding migrants — and sometimes even U.S. citizens — for days at a time. They are therefore detention facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie.”

Noem Nails It: DHS Releases New ICE Visitation Rules Maxine Waters and Jerry Nadler Will Hate
“This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny Member visits to ICE offices across the country,” one prominent Democrat said in response.
Noem Nails It: DHS Releases New ICE Visitation Rules Maxine Waters and Jerry Nadler Will Hate

Associated Press: 4 detainees have escaped from an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, DHS says

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Four detainees have escaped from a federal immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, amid reports of disorder breaking out there, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

More “law enforcement partners” have been brought in to find the detainees missing from Delaney Hall, according to an emailed statement attributed to a senior DHS official whom the department did not identify. The statement also didn’t specify which law enforcement agencies are involved.

Newark’s mayor had cited reports of a possible uprising and escape after disorder broke out at the facility Thursday night, and protesters outside the center had locked arms and pushed against barricades as vehicles passed through gates. Much is still unclear about what unfolded there.

4 detainees have escaped from an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, DHS says

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/disorder-breaks-out-at-new-jersey-immigration-detention-center/ar-AA1GEFFG

NBC News: Sen. Alex Padilla is forcibly removed from DHS Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles

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[Bimbo #2] Noem was in L.A. to address the ongoing protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Federal agents handcuffed Padilla after his removal.

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday after he tried to question Homeland Security Secretary Kristi [Bimbo #2] Noem during a media event related to immigration.

“I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla told [Bimbo #2] Noem, which prompted several men dressed in plainclothes to push him out of the room. A top FBI official later said bureau personnel and Secret Service agents were involved in his removal.

Padilla’s office shared a video of the incident with NBC News. The video shows Padilla being taken into a hallway outside and pushed face forward onto the ground as officers with FBI-identifying vests tell him to put his hands behind his back. The officers then handcuff him.

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Padilla to reporters later Thursday that he was waiting for a scheduled briefing from military officials when he learned [Bimbo #2] Noem was in the same building and decided to join her briefing.

“I was there peacefully,” he said. “At one point, I had a question, and so I began to ask a question. I was almost immediately forcibly removed from the room, I was forced to the ground, and I was handcuffed.”

Like everything else that spews out of her mouth, Bimbo #2 Noem lied; He had clearly identified himself, and Bimbo #2 Noem had met with him previously on several occasions:

Bimbo #2 Noem offered a different account in an interview on Fox News in which she falsely said Padilla did not identify himself before he was forced out.

And a summary from Senator Padilla:

“If this is how this administration responds to a senator with a question, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security responds to a senator with a question, you can only imagine what they’re doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country,” he said.

Sen. Alex Padilla is forcibly removed from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles
Noem was in L.A. to address the ongoing protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Federal agents handcuffed Padilla after his removal.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna212688

Rep. LaMonica McIver indicted on federal charges over clash with law enforcement at ICE facility in New Jersey

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The interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina [Bimbo #4] Habba, said the Democratic lawmaker, who plans to plead not guilty, was indicted on three counts of interfering with law enforcement.

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was indicted Tuesday on federal charges stemming from a confrontation with law enforcement at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark last month.

The interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina [Bimbo #4] Habba, said on X that a federal grand jury indicted McIver on three counts of “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers.”

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McIver called the legal proceedings “a brazen attempt at political intimidation” and said she will plead not guilty.

Rep. LaMonica McIver indicted on federal charges over clash with law enforcement at ICE facility in New Jersey
The interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, said the Democratic lawmaker, who plans to plead not guilty, was indicted on three counts of interfering with law enforcement.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/lamonica-mciver-indicted-federal-charges-ice-new-jersey-rcna212221

Tampa Free Press: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Says ICE Is ‘Trump’s Modern-Day Gestapo’ In Commencement Speech

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Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz compared the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel executing the Trump administration’s immigration agenda to the Gestapo in a Saturday commencement address at the University of Minnesota law school.

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Walz, the failed Democratic nominee for vice president in 2024, suggested during the speech that Trump is using ICE to implement his immigration agenda in similar fashion to how Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler used the Gestapo secret police to target opponents, according to RealClearPolitics.

“Donald Trump’s modern-day Gestapo is scooping folks up off the streets,” Walz claimed. “They’re in unmarked vans, wearing masks, being shipped off to foreign torture dungeons—no chance to mount a defense, not even a chance to kiss a loved one goodbye, just grabbed up by masked agents, shoved into those vans, and disappeared.”

“To be clear, there’s no way for us to know whether they were actually criminals or not, because they refused to give them a trial,” Walz continued. “We’re supposed to just take their word for it.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Says ICE Is ‘Trump’s Modern-Day Gestapo’ In Commencement Speech
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz compared the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel executing the Trump administration’s immigration agenda to
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Says ICE Is ‘Trump’s Modern-Day Gestapo’ In Commencement Speech

Knews: AOC Rips ‘Anti-American’ Trump Over Democratic Arrests

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) criticized President Donald Trump and his administration for being “anti-American” following a confrontation involving Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Democratic lawmakers at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center. Baraka was accused for trespassing and released after arrest. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Robert Menendez of trespassing and assaulting ICE agents.

Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said, “If anyone’s breaking the law in this situation, it’s not members of Congress, it’s the Department of Homeland Security. It’s people like Tom Homan and Secretary Kristi Noem.” She added, “You lay a finger on someone, on Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman … or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, we are going to have a problem. Because the people who are breaking the law are the people not abiding by it.”

AOC Rips ‘Anti-American’ Trump Over Democratic Arrests
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/aoc-rips-anti-american-trump-over-democratic-arrests/ss-AA1F5sac

Sacramento Bee: ‘Multiple Warnings’: Democratic Mayor’s Arrest Sparks Backlash

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Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested by federal immigration police while supporting Congress members Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez during a tour of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement jail. After moving to a public area following a request to leave, Baraka was seized by officers and charged with trespassing. He was released after several hours, and later expressed concerns about the conditions of detainees and the need for inspections to ensure safety protocols.

‘Multiple Warnings’: Democratic Mayor’s Arrest Sparks Backlash
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/multiple-warnings-democratic-mayor-s-arrest-sparks-backlash/ss-AA1F0PDS