Three New Jersey Democrats involved in ICE scuffle could lose committee posts
The trio of New Jersey Democrats who scuffled with federal agents outside an ICE facility last week could lose their committee posts, if a new bill passes the House.
Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez, and LaMonica McIver would be stripped of their assignments under the resolution, introduced by Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga.
New Jersey Dems in spotlight
The three Democrats claim they were performing oversight when they visited the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The altercation ensued during the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who ignored repeated warnings to leave the facility. The Democrat was charged with trespassing and released that same night.
The Department of Homeland Security released police bodycam video of a chaotic crowd outside the gates of the detention center. The video shows Rep. McIver screaming at ICE officers and elbowing her way past one of them into the facility.
In the wake of the incident, DHS warned that more public officials could face consequences for breaking the law.
"There will likely be more arrests coming. We actually have body camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer. So we will be showing that to viewers very shortly,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.
Grandstanding Dems embrace criminals
While the feds have not ruled out arrests, the three Democrats are also facing punishment from Congress, and rightly so. Their conduct is clearly beneath their role as elected representatives.
The resolution from Carter would remove Watson Coleman from the Appropriations Committee, McIver from the Homeland Security and Small Business committees, and Menendez from the Energy and Commerce Committee. Menendez is the son of convicted criminal and former Democratic senator Bob Menendez.
Baraka, who is running for governor of the state, appears to be relishing the attention caused by his stunt. He has compared himself to the Biblical King David, in a grandstanding echo of former Newark mayor Cory Booker's self-identification with the rebel slave Spartacus.
The storming of the ICE detention center in Newark is the latest dramatic display of solidarity between Democrats and illegal aliens. Democratic members of Congress flew to El Salvador last month to show support for alleged MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
"Lost their minds"
These performances will surely reinforce the Democratic party's negative brand image as out of touch, extreme, and self-important.
"The radical left has lost their minds — they would rather raid an ICE facility to defend criminal illegal immigrants than represent their own constituents," Carter said in a statement.
"This behavior constitutes an assault on our brave ICE agents and undermines the rule of law. The three members involved in this stunt do not deserve to sit on committees alongside serious lawmakers."