'Lost their minds!' GOP wants to strip Dem colleagues of key roles after ICE protest
Three Democratic lawmakers could lose their committee seats after rushing into a New Jersey detention facility last week in support of undocumented migrants being held by ICE, Fox News Digital reported Tuesday.
Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) introduced a resolution on Tuesday that would remove Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) from the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rob Menendez Jr. (D-NJ) from the House Energy & Commerce Committee, and Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) from the House committees on Small Business and Homeland Security, the report said.
Carter told the outlet, "The radical left has lost their minds – they would rather raid an ICE facility to defend criminal illegal immigrants than represent their own constituents. This behavior constitutes an assault on our brave ICE agents and undermines the rule of law. The three members involved in this stunt do not deserve to sit on committees alongside serious lawmakers."
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The Department of Homeland Security accused the lawmakers "of breaking in and risking the safety of both law enforcement and detainees for what it called a political stunt," Fox News Digital reported.
But the lawmakers maintained they were "exercising their constitutional duty" and accused ICE agents of assault.
Also part of the protest was Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka, who faces up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted following his arrest at the detention center.
The mayor "was charged with a state trespassing offense occurring on property in federal jurisdiction, according to a transcript released Monday of a court hearing held virtually on Friday night," Bloomberg reported.
Baraka, who is running for New Jersey's next governor, denied breaking any laws and claims he was the victim of political targeting.
The for-profit detention facility, Delaney Hall, "has become ICE's biggest lockup center on the East Coast. New Jersey politicians say the facility's existence in Newark violates state laws."