LaMonica McIver has been accused of assault as the Trump administration accuses Democrats of obstructing immigration enforcement.
United States Representative LaMonica McIver has pleaded not guilty in a criminal case stemming from a visit to an immigration facility, saying the charges are an effort by the administration of President Donald Trump to “intimidate” her.
McIver entered her plea at a hearing on Wednesday. She faces charges of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials during a May 9 congressional oversight visit to an immigrant detention centre in New Jersey.
“They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job,” she said outside the courthouse in Newark.
The Trump administration has previously threatened to arrest and charge Democratic lawmakers over immigration-related issues.
But McIver and her supporters have underscored that Congress members have a right to inspect immigration facilities.
Democrats have also characterised such charges as a baseless effort to discourage criticism and oversight of the administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.
Two of the three counts faced by McIver carry maximum sentences of eight years in prison, while the third is a misdemeanour charge that carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. A trial is set for November 10.
McIver was charged by interim US Attorney Alina Habba, who was appointed to the Trump administration after previously representing the president as a personal lawyer in his court cases during the period between his two terms.
A video shared by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shows McIver in a jostling crowd of protesters and officers outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in New Jersey. Her elbow appear to push into an officer, though it is unclear whether this was intentional.
The criminal complaint against her alleges that she “slammed” an agent and tried to grab him.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was also arrested during the protest on trespassing charges that were later dropped. He has filed a lawsuit against Habba over what he calls malicious persecution.
Baraka appeared with McIver on Wednesday, stating that the Trump administration was using law enforcement as an “appendage of their ideology to begin to hammer us”.
McIver is one of 12 Congress members representing New Jersey in the US House of Representatives. But she is not the only Democratic official to clash with the Trump administration over immigration policies.
Earlier this month, Trump mused publicly about arresting California Governor Gavin Newsom after protests erupted in Los Angeles over immigration raids.
“I would do it if I were Tom,” Trump said, referencing his border czar Tom Homan, who had raised the possibility of such arrests. “I think it’s great.”
Then, on June 12, during a protest-related news conference, federal agents also handcuffed and temporarily detained Senator Alex Padilla of California after he was forced to the ground.
Padilla had interrupted the conference to ask the speaker, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, a question. DHS stated afterwards that Padilla had not identified himself, even though a video of the incident shows him clearly doing so.
It also said the senator had “lunged” towards Noem, an allegation he disputes. In a statement, Padilla described his actions as an exercise of “his duty to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government’s operations”.
While federal law states that members of Congress have the authority to inspect immigrant detention centres and cannot be blocked from entering, DHS issued guidelines earlier this month stating that the agency has sole discretion over who enters immigration enforcement field offices.
It also said it would start requiring 72 hours of advanced notice before lawmakers visit.
