(CN) - U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver announced Monday that she is appealing a batch of federal charges against her stemming from an oversight visit to an immigrant detention facility in Newark earlier this year.
McIver, a Democrat representing New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, is accused of assaulting and interfering with federal officers outside of the Delaney Hall immigration facility during an inspection of the site in May. McIver has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and unsuccessfully sought their dismissal on the back of legislative immunity.
That issue will be the focus of her appeal, McIver said in a statement on Monday.
"From the beginning, I've fought back against this administration's cruelty and attempts to silence dissent - this appeal is the next step in the fight," McIver said. "The Trump administration's case is dangerous, baseless and designed to stop me from doing my job. I won't. This appeal is for everyone who is standing up to this administration as they try to operate without oversight, silence the people who oppose them, and shut down those who protect the vulnerable."
"They want to make an example out of me, but I will not let them," McIver added. "I will not be bullied out of doing my job and protecting our communities. Not now, not ever."
The Justice Department's indictment of the 39-year-old congresswoman is a rare federal prosecution against a sitting member of Congress over accusations other than fraud or corruption, signifying heightened tension between the Trump administration and Democratic lawmakers.
Critics say the case is a political deterrent designed to kneecap lawmakers' right to inspect federal facilities, as a sharp increase in immigration detentions has sparked widespread concerns of mistreatment and substandard living conditions for detainees.
In the scrutinized incident, McIver claimed she was protecting Newark Mayor Ras Baraka from officials who tried to forcibly remove him when he was accused of trespassing during the Delaney Hall visit. Surveillance video shows a deportation officer blocking McIver as she attempted to enter the facility, eventually pushing her towards a parking lot. McIver pushed back.
Baraka was charged with trespassing after the skirmish, but the case was immediately dropped and federal prosecutors scolded by a magistrate judge for bringing it in the first place. He is now suing the Justice Department for false arrest.
McIver had no such luck. Last month, U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper ruled that the congresswoman must face at least two of the three federal charges against her.
"Impeding an arrest, whether lawful or unlawful, goes beyond any reasonable definition of oversight and, accordingly, exceeds the safe harbor of legislative immunity," the Joe Biden appointee said. "No genuine legislative purpose was advanced by defendant's alleged conduct."
Though Semper also acknowledged in a footnote that the officer who pushed McIver could have violated her right to inspect the facility.
McIver returned to Delaney Hall last week for another oversight visit after a 41-year-old undocumented Haitian man died at the facility, fueling more calls to close the controversial immigration jail. ICE said in a statement that the man, Jean Wilson Brutus, appeared to die of natural causes.
"While at Delaney Hall Detention Facility, he experienced a medical emergency and local Emergency Medical Services was called," the agency said in a press release. "EMS performed life-saving measures and transported Brutus to University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, and later the hospital pronounced him deceased on Dec. 12."
McIver's Monday filing was merely a notice signifying her intent to appeal. A more substantive filing with her legal arguments will follow as the case heads from New Jersey to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Source: Courthouse News Service
