Democrats Say There Will Be ‘a Lot More’ ICE Facility Visits in Spite of Criminal Charges

Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba charged Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat who visited an ICE facility, with assault. Democrats say that won’t stop future oversight.

Rep. LaMonica McIver speaks at a press conference.
Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba charged Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat who visited an ICE facility, with assault. Tom Williams/AP

Congressional Democrats say the criminal charges filed against Rep. LaMonica McIver will not deter them: They say they’ll be increasing their visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.

“Donald Trump doesn’t want us conducting oversight at ICE facilities like these great members of Congress were doing,” Rep. Greg Casar said Tuesday at a press conference. “He wants to intimidate us out of doing that, and in our meeting, we decided we’re just about to go into a lot more oversight visits at ICE facilities.”

This is the first time Democrats have announced a formal effort to increase their oversight visits to these facilities, increasing the possibility for more legal conflict between the Trump administration and Democratic lawmakers.