McIver appeals indictment rulings
Congresswoman challenges judge over Delaney Hall charges
By: Nicholas Katzban
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Representative LaMonica McIver is seeking to appeal two rulings by a federal judge who upheld a criminal indictment alleging she assaulted ICE and Homeland Security agents outside the Delaney Hall immigrant detention center in Newark in May, [2025] recent court documents show.
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A notice filed with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on December 29, [2025] advising the appellate division of McIver's intention to fight the lower court's rulings on two motions to toss her case based on McIver's right to legislative immunity and arguments that she was unfairly targeted by former interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for political reasons.
..... U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper sided with federal prosecutors, ruling she was not unfairly targeted and that the congresswoman's claims of immunity do not protect her actions during the chaotic arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka outside Delaney Hall on May 9. [2025]
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"From the beginning, this case has been about trying to intimidate me" and "keep me from doing my job," McIver said in a statement posted to her congressional website on November 13, [2025] after Semper said his rulings.
..... "It will not work," she added, saying "the court's denial of my motions does not change that face. I am not in this fight only for myself, and I am concerned that this decision will simply embolden the administration.
..... When agents arrested Baraka for allegedly trespassing on the facility's grounds, McIver was at the site with Democratic Representatives Rob Menendez and Bonnie Watson Coleman, seeking to tour Delaney Hall and ensure that tis conditions met federal detention standards - a right afforded to them under Congress' 2020 spending package.
..... In on emotion to dismiss, McIver alleged federal agents delayed the oversight tour by forcing the delegation to await the arrival of supervisors from a nearby field office. As the legislators sat inside Delaney Hall, protesters and agents clashed outside the facility's front gate when agents descended on the mayor and accused him of trespassing - a charge that was quickly dismissed. McIver and her two colleagues exited the facility and came to the mayor's aide as a massive scrum of activists pressed forward, prior reports said.
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Amid the tumult, McIver continued to reach for Baraka and swung her arms while a mix of agents, her colleagues and security personnel knocked into her, as seen in footage of the event.
.....Paul Fishman, McIver's lead defense counsel, argued in court that Baraka's arrest was part of a series of efforts to stymie the congressional tour. Therefore, her decision to exit the facility and question the agents' actions falls within her legislative duty and right to affirm her powers of oversight, Fishman said.
..... Semper questioned whether the congresswoman's decision to become involved in the fracas could not be separated from her charge to view conditions inside the facility, and later upheld courts one and three of the indictment with regard to any claims of legislative immunity.
..... However, the judge decided to withhold his judgment on court two, which alleges McIver assaulted a specific yet unnamed ICE agent, until federal prosecutors furnish him with unreleased security footage form the incident.
..... Contrary to what prosecutors alleged, Fishman has argued, McIver's federal authority was obstructed by the agent, who was "matching her stride step for step and deliberately keeping himself between the congresswoman and the entryway."
..... On the basis of selective and vindictive prosecution, Semper sided with prosecutors on all three counts, as stated in a copy of his ruling.
..... Fishman declined to common on his client's decision to appeal Semper's rulings. Habba - whose appointment was marred by efforts to keep her in the post without confirmation by the Senate - resigned on December 8, [2025] after the 3rd Circuit Court ruled hat her installation was unlawful.
..... That ruling concerned moves by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to keep her in the role beyond the 120-day period an acting appointee may serve without congressional approval.
..... As a result, the appellate court's decision had no effect on cases she brought while statutorily permitted to hold the title - including McIver's.