U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said three Democrat lawmakers committed felonies at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey, last week and called for them to be censured.
Noem reacted to the Democrat lawmakers — who defended their actions as a mere “oversight visit” — by telling Fox News, “This wasn’t oversight. This was committing felonies. This was going out and attacking people who stand up for the rule of law. And it was absolutely horrible.”
“I can’t believe they act like this and then they defend it,” the Homeland Security Secretary added, referring to the unlawful actions of Rep. Rob Menendez Jr. (D-NJ), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) at the ICE facility.
On Wednesday, Noem testified before a congressional committee, describing what transpired at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark on Friday as “a political stunt that put the safety of our law enforcement officers, our agents, our staff, and our detainees at risk.”
“As a vehicle approached the security gate at Delaney Hall Detention Center, a mob of protestors — including three members of Congress — stormed the gate, and they trespassed into the detention facility,” the Homeland Security Secretary said.
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“We have footage of those members of Congress slamming their bodies into our law enforcement officers, shoving them, screaming profanities in their faces, striking them with their fists, and otherwise assaulting law enforcement,” Noem continued.
“The behavior was lawlessness,” she added, before asserting that “members of Congress should not break into detention centers or federal facilities.”
Noem went on to say that “had these members requested a tour,” it would have been facilitated, and reminded the Committee that members of Congress visit these centers “all of the time,” and these Representatives know “there are proper protocols and there are procedures that must be abided by.”
The Homeland Security Secretary also reminded the Committee that those detained at the detention center “are murderers, rapists, known terrorists, MS-13 gang members, drug traffickers, and other heinous actors.”
“I hope that the rest of the members of the House of Representatives will hold them accountable,” Noem told Fox News on Tuesday.
“They shouldn’t be allowed to be on the committees that they’re on — in fact, one of them [McIver] is supposed to be conducting oversight over ICE and instead she’s assaulting them,” the Homeland Security Secretary continued.
“They don’t deserve to be in the House,” Noem added. “They should be censured by it.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
