Lawmakers denied the fraud after accusing Homeland Security of forcing them to “decry a female ice officer” past the gates of ice facilities.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Saturday that democratic lawmakers involved in a conflict at a federal immigration facility in New Jersey could face arrests, citing physical camera footage that they are allegedly physically attacking federal agents.
DHS spokesman Tricia Mclaughlin told CNN in a May 10 interview that she was considering evidence, including videos of elected officials (ICE) officers attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during Friday’s incident outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark.
“We actually have body camera footage of some of these members of Congress attacking ice enforcers, including bodies that smack female ice personnel,” McLaughlin told CNN’s Victor Blackwell. “We’ll show that to our audience soon.”
Asked if an arrest was being considered, McLaughlin replied: “This is an ongoing investigation and it is definitely on the table.”
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“Members of Congress do not exceed the law and cannot illegally enter detention facilities,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “If these members had requested tours, they would have encouraged tours of the facility.”
DHS said some detainees in Delaney Hall are suspected of serious crimes, including murder and terrorism. The 1,000-bed facility, operating under a $1 billion dollar, operates on a 15-year federal contract with private prison company GEO Group, and began accepting new arrivals on May 1 as part of the Trump administration’s expanding immigrant detention capabilities.
Lawmakers rejected the DHS version of the event.
Watson Coleman spokesman Ned Cooper told the media that body-cam footage she shares with lawmakers puts her hands on members of Congress and shows agents arresting Baraka say it is inconsistent with DHS accounts.
House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) supported lawmakers and criticized him for describing him as a threatening tactic by the Trump administration.
As with publication, lawmakers are not indicted. In response to the investigation’s status investigation, DHS introduced the epoch era to the US Lawyer’s office in the New Jersey area.
Baraka, a Democrat running for the success of limited time New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, has been charged with one count of trespassing and released without a bond.
