Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) on Tuesday advocated in support of the closure of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, New Jersey, where she was arrested and charged in May for assaulting officers.
The congresswoman described revisiting Delaney Hall as “traumatic” and claimed she was the one assaulted, not federal law enforcement.
“We’re going to continue to say that this facility should not be open,” she told reporters. “When we left out of there, a detainee told us, ‘This is not the America that we dreamed of.’”
McIver’s public appearance outside the detention center comes nearly two weeks after an illegal Haitian immigrant died at Delaney Hall. ICE said the detainee, identified as 41-year-old Jean Wilson Brutus, died of “suspected natural causes” on Dec. 12. He was taken into custody the previous day.
Democratic lawmakers suspect ICE may have played a role in events leading to Brutus’s death.
“This tragedy is not an isolated incident, and we have seen neglect, abuse, and cruelty from this administration as they strip people of the rights this country affords everyone, including those in detention,” McIver previously said. “Delaney Hall must be closed immediately and a full, independent, investigation needs to take place.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) made a similar statement, calling out the “inhumane conditions” and “mismanagement” at the ICE facility, which, like Mike McIver, called for its closure.
Reps. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY) joined McIver on Tuesday’s oversight visit.
ICE is investigating the detainee’s death, Menendez said after the lawmakers asked about the matter. He accused the Trump administration of taking “advantage of a broken immigration system … for profit.”
Clarke called attention to reports of four deaths in ICE facilities over a four-day period this month, casting blame on the Trump administration. She said it’s an “insult” if anyone argues the recent deaths are “isolated.”
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin defended ICE’s treatment of illegal detainees, saying they have “higher standards than most U.S. prisons that hold U.S. citizens.”
“All detainees are provided with meals certified by dietitians and comprehensive medical care — often the best healthcare that many aliens have received in their entire lives,” she noted.
NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATS CRY FOUL AFTER ICE DETAINEE DIES OF ‘SUSPECTED NATURAL CAUSES’
McIver has pleaded not guilty to the assault charges, which she alleges were politically motivated. A federal judge denied the defendant’s bid to dismiss her case last month. Two of the three charges are now set to proceed.
The federal case has yet to go to trial.