A federal appeals court is allowing two federal assault charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., stemming from an oversight visit to Delaney Hall Detention Facility to move forward, finding she does not have legislative immunity from the charges.
The congresswoman had moved to dismiss her indictment, arguing the government had violated separation of powers.
The two charges allege that the congresswoman — while engaging in an inspection visit of the conditions of the immigration facility in May 2025 — forcibly assaulted two federal agents. The government alleged she “slammed her forearm” and was “forcibly grabbing” one agent and that she used her forearms to “forcibly strike” another agent.
McIver had argued her visit to the immigration detention center conferred her with legislative immunity. Members of Congress are protected from prosecution stemming from official legislative acts under the speech and debate clause.
She also invoked the Supreme Court’s ruling that recognized presidential immunity for official acts, arguing that principle should extend to cover legislators as well.
“Legislators, unlike the President, face ongoing threats of prosecution during their term in office,” she argued.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, finding her alleged assault of federal officers was not legislative in nature.
“Expanding legislative immunity to cover a broader scope of conduct would exceed even the Presidential Immunity” the ruling says.
In a statement given first to MS NOW, McIver said, “To protect the people, their elected representatives must be authorized to conduct oversight of the executive branch without fear of retaliation.”
“Today’s decision chills that authority and emboldens the Trump administration to continue persecuting our most vulnerable communities,” she said.
She added that she is exploring all legal options.
“It is too dangerous if the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are able to thwart members of Congress from inspecting an ICE detention facility, create chaos, and then prosecute those members and pretend it was their fault,” said Paul Fishman, an attorney for McIver. “The goal of the administration is clear: chill members of Congress from overseeing the actions of the Trump administration.”
McIver was charged with three counts of assaulting and impeding federal law enforcement after the May 2025 incident during an oversight visit to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in New Jersey, which had fallen under scrutiny after reports that operators failed to obtain proper permits and inspections to reopen the facility.
The facility had previously operated as an ICE detention center from 2011 until 2017, when it closed and was converted into a halfway house. It was reopened as an ICE facility in February 2025, when the owners secured a federal contract.
The scene at Delaney Hall involved several protestors, lawmakers and Trump administration agents. McIver was also joined that day by Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was also charged with trespassing. The charge against him was later dropped.
Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez were also with McIver for the oversight visit to Delaney Hall that day. The three lawmakers issued a statement that said they faced “contempt, disrespect, and aggression from ICE” while conducting their visit that day.
Then-acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba announced the charges against McIver. The 3rd Circuit Court ruled in December 2025 that Habba, a former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, was serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney for New Jersey after failing to gain Senate support.
McIver posted on X after she was charged, saying that she and her colleagues were “fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short.” The congresswoman called the charges she is facing “purely political,” saying they “mischaracterize” her actions that day.
The appeals court is sending a third assault charge back to the district court for reconsideration, finding there is not enough information about whether the charged conduct includes official legislative acts. That charge does not correlate to a specific act against a specific victim. During oral argument in June, the government argued that the third charge covered “essentially all” of the congresswoman’s alleged efforts to hinder and impede the work of federal immigration agents at the site.
Wednesday’s appeals court ruling included a dissent from Judge Thomas Ambro, who disagreed with the majority’s decision on allowing two of the charges to proceed, saying that some of McIver’s actions that day invoked protections as a legislator.
“As here, a legislator has presented evidence that her prosecution was brought as an act of political retaliation, I would allow her discovery into the truth of the matter — not only for her own sake but to safeguard the independence of our legislative bodies,” Ambro wrote.
Ambro agreed with the other judges on the panel that the third charge McIver is facing should be sent back to the district court for debate, saying that a remand is “necessary.”
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