Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.) introduced a Tuesday resolution seeking to remove several Democrats from their committee posts regarding an incident at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
Democratic New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robert Menendez and LaMonica McIver were named in the bill for visiting the Delaney Hall detention center after the Trump administration said the lawmakers stormed the building.
Carter’s resolution would remove Watson Coleman from the House Committee on Appropriations, McIver from the House Committees on Homeland Security and Small Business, and Menendez from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
“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,” Carter, a Senate candidate for Georgia, said in a statement.
He was not present during the incident. Video footage from that day shows commotion and ICE agents entangled with members of Congress and their staff.
Watson Coleman said the scuffle happened after the three peacefully entered the building alongside escorts.
The New Jersey lawmaker has denied statements alleging the lawmakers entered the building illegally. She said members of Congress are permitted to conduct legal oversight at facilities without prior notice and she has done so twice this year.
“The idea we ‘stormed’ a heavily guarded federal detention center is absurd – just more lies from the most dishonest administration in history,” Watson Coleman wrote in a Sunday statement on X.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) was arrested for trespassing, and a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said more Democrats could be arrested for their visit.
“Today’s incident at the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark that led to the arrest of Mayor Ras Baraka and the man-handling, assault and mistreatment of Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez by federal immigration agents, raises serious concerns about the Trump Administration’s lack of transparency and treatment of individuals being held in immigrant detention facilities,” Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.
“Rep. Watson Coleman, as part of the New Jersey delegation, and Rep. McIver, in her capacity as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, two of our CBC members along side Rep. Rob Menendez, were present to inspect the conditions at Delaney Hall as a part of their oversight responsibilities as members of the U.S. House of Representatives,” she concluded.
