The lawmakers deny wrongdoing after Homeland Safety accused them of forcing their well past an ICE facility gate and ‘physique slamming a feminine ICE officer.’
The Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) stated Saturday that Democratic lawmakers concerned in a confrontation at a federal immigration facility in New Jersey may face arrest, citing physique digital camera footage that allegedly reveals them bodily assaulting federal brokers.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin informed CNN in a Might 10 interview that the division was reviewing proof that included video of elected officers attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers throughout Friday’s incident exterior Delaney Corridor Detention Middle in Newark—elevating the prospect of federal prices in opposition to the lawmakers.
“We even have physique digital camera footage of a few of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, together with physique slamming a feminine ICE officer,” McLaughlin informed CNN’s Victor Blackwell. “We can be exhibiting that to viewers very shortly.”
Requested whether or not arrests had been being thought-about, McLaughlin replied: “That is an ongoing investigation and that’s positively on the desk.”
“Members of Congress usually are not above the legislation and can’t illegally break into detention services,” McLaughlin stated within the assertion. “Had these members requested a tour, we might have facilitated a tour of the power.”
DHS stated some detainees housed at Delaney Corridor are suspected of great crimes, together with homicide and terrorism. The 1,000-bed facility, operated underneath a $1 billion, 15-year federal contract with non-public jail agency GEO Group, started accepting new arrivals on Might 1 as a part of the Trump administration’s growth of immigration detention capability.
The lawmakers rejected the DHS model of occasions.
Ned Cooper, a spokesperson for Watson Coleman, informed media retailers that physique cam footage shared with the lawmakers reveals brokers placing fingers on the congress members and arresting Baraka—proof that Cooper says contradicts DHS’s account.
Home Democratic Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) backed the lawmakers and criticized what he described as intimidation techniques by the Trump administration.
As of publication, the lawmakers haven’t been charged. In response to an inquiry in regards to the standing of the investigation, DHS referred The Epoch Instances to the workplace of the U.S. lawyer for the District of New Jersey, which didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Baraka, a Democrat who’s working to succeed term-limited New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, was charged with one rely of trespassing and launched with out bond.