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A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden is siding with the Trump administration in refusing to dismiss a case against a House Democrat accused of assaulting federal immigration officers.
Two of the three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit refused to dismiss the Department of Justice (DOJ) case against Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., stemming from a 2025 incident at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey.
An unannounced visit to the Delaney Hall detention center by a group of Democratic officials devolved into chaos in May 2025 that culminated in a physical standoff between federal lawmakers and ICE agents and the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. McIver was charged with three counts, including assaulting and impeding federal officers.
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She attempted to get the case thrown out, arguing that she is immune from prosecution because her actions were part of her official duties as a member of Congress.
She also accused the DOJ of unfairly singling her out, with her congressional office calling the charges “vindictive.”
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But the 2-1 decision, made by Biden-appointed Judge Cindy Chung and Trump-appointed Judge Stephanos Bibas, stated that McIver’s argument of legislative immunity would not stand for two of the three counts, while the third count was sent back to a lower court for further review.
Court documents say McIver allegedly “slammed her forearm” into a federal officer trying to arrest Baraka. On that count, the federal appellate court agreed with a lower court decision that her “alleged intervention into the Mayor’s questionable arrest had no cognizable connection to any legislative function” protected by the Constitution.
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The second count alleged that McIver used both of her forearms to “strike [an officer] as she returned inside of the secured area of Delaney Hall.”
The two judges wrote, “Like the acts charged in Count One, the acts of pushing past and forcibly striking someone are unambiguously non-legislative: they are not integral to the legislative process.”
Judge Thomas Ambro wrote in dissent, “When an Executive Branch official prevents a Member from entering a DHS facility, she is denied effective access to an oversight inspection.”
McIver herself said in a statement that “the court got it wrong.”
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“Today’s decision chills that authority and emboldens the Trump administration to continue persecuting our most vulnerable communities, those who try to defend them, and anyone who dares hold the president or his lackeys accountable. I will not fold to this administration. We are exploring every possible option. The administration will not stop me from doing my job or standing for what is right. This is not over,” McIver said.
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