The leftist New Jersey lawmakers who breached the security gate at an ICE detention facility on Friday could face criminal charges, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The videotaped ruckus—widely shared on social media and news outlets—occurred at Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center in Newark, where protestors had gathered to speak out against immigrants being detained there.
A trio of U.S. House Democrats from New Jersey showed up at the facility and demanded a tour as part of their Congressional oversight duties, eventually pushing through an open security gate and scuffling with federal agents.
Lawmakers LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez have been accused of political grandstanding. They did it for their “15 minutes of fame,” said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs.
The New York Post reports the Trump administration is weighing criminal charges against them for alleged assault. The confrontation quickly blew up with multiple surveillance, body camera and personal videos being blasted across social media and news outlets over the weekend.
The skirmish also led to the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for trespassing. Baraka recently filed a lawsuit against the company operating the detention center, claiming the facility lacks the proper city permits in order to open.
On Monday, Newark city officials were back in front of Delaney Hall to serve the owners of the immigrant detention center with violation notices, according to NJ.com.
The representatives claim they went to the facility to inspect it as a matter of congressional oversight. They joined the protesters and pushed through the gate as a bus of detainees was entering through the security gate, according to DHS.
🚨WATCH: US Congresswoman, LaMonica McIver (wearing a red blazer), storms the gate of Delaney Hall Detention Center ASSAULTING an ICE agent. pic.twitter.com/4Q1deds1tl
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 10, 2025
Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper said the three lawmakers went there unannounced because they planned to inspect it, not take a scheduled tour.
“We were able to get in, speak to detainees, check out the facilities, and make sure everything was OK there,” Rep. Watson Coleman told CNN in an interview Sunday that also included her two New Jersey colleagues. “We were there almost two hours before the confrontation took place, but ICE kept giving us the run-around and kept saying that they needed to talk to someone else.”
Authorities claim they broke the law and an ICE agent was assaulted in the confrontation, which was caught on camera. DHS footage posted to X Saturday appears to show McIver barreling through law enforcement near the gate.
In another X post, DHS shared some of the illegal aliens being detained at the facility with the caption “Meet who the New Jersey lawmakers are fighting for:”
- Chinchilla Caballero is a positive match to “numerous TECS lookouts” and is a known active member of MS13.
- Ramos Marin is wanted in Brazil for homicide and has an International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) Red Notice.
- Saravia Santamaria, a citizen and national of El Salvador, who was allegedly captured in relation to a “Raven” operation and “known and verified” MS-13 gang affiliations.
- Adonis Estevez Bello, a 23-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic, who has multiple felony convictions for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, drug trafficking, resisting arrest, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes.
- Maximo Nunez, a 58-year-old citizen of the Dominican Republic, has felony arrests for possession of a controlled dangerous substance, obstructing administration of law, aggravated unlicensed driving, assault with a deadly weapon — with the intent to kill, and interfering with custody of children.
DHS on Sunday posted ICE facility visitation guidelines for Congressional members and staff, noting: “Members of Congress cannot break the law in the name of ‘oversight.’ All members and staff need to comply with facility rules, procedures, and instructions from ICE personnel on site.”
Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, members of Congress can conduct unannounced oversight visits to ICE facilities without prior notice. However, ICE guidelines mandate compliance with facility rules, such as security protocols, to ensure safety.
“Delaney Hall Detention Center houses murderers, terrorists, child rapists and MS-13 gang members,” McLaughlin said in a post on X. “Why are these Democrat politicians so hell-bent on getting these heinous actors out of this facility that they would storm the facility & put law enforcement at risk?”
During a press conference, McIver claimed that ICE “shoved” her and “manhandled” the lawmakers, saying she was “assaulted by multiple ICE officers while regional directors of ICE watched it happen,” Fox News reports.
McLaughlin also told “Fox News Live” host Kevin Corke Saturday: “If it was a typical U.S. citizen, and they tried to storm into a detention facility that’s housing dangerous criminals or any person at all, they would be arrested. Just because you are a member of Congress or just because you’re a public official, does not mean you are above the law.”
Newark is considered a sanctuary city, and Baraka has been critical of the Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center since it opened May 1, AP News reports. The 1,000-bed facility is operated by the GEO Group, a private prison company, and houses “murderers, terrorists, child rapists and MS-13 gang members,” according to DHS officials.
Baraka was handcuffed, detained for five hours and formally charged with trespassing by federal prosecutors. Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said on the social media platform X that Baraka, a Democrat who is running for governor, ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to leave.
“He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW,” Habba wrote.
The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this…
— US Attorney Habba (@USAttyHabba) May 9, 2025
Baraka also has filed a lawsuit against GEO Group, the company running the facility, and recently showed up outside the facility’s gates, aiming to gain entry but ultimately was denied. The city says it shouldn’t be open yet because of building permit issues.
The city alleges Delaney Hall has permit issues such as needing grounded electrical outlets in a half-dozen rooms in the facility. The suit also claims a new entry gate that needs a permit related to electrical work, among other things, according to code inspection documents submitted in legal filings.
Florida-based GEO Group said the mayor is politicizing the situation and that city officials didn’t object when the Obama administration operated the facility as an ICE processing center.
Newark has one of the state’s largest immigrant populations, and Baraka has also said during his campaign that he would sign the Immigrant Trust Act, a bill that would codify a directive to protect immigrants into state law.
