Jasmine Crockett Compares Footage Of Newark ICE Center Visit With Jan. 6 Insurrection At Hearing

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During a House Judiciary Committee Hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) discussed the arrest of Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) at an ICE detention center in Newark.

Transcript

00:00Thank you Mr. Chairman and you know I have my prepared remarks and we gonna

00:08get to them at some point. There was a lot that was said including the fact

00:12that Delaney Hall is something that was opened up under Obama and seemingly the

00:17mayor at the time did not have issues with Delaney Hall. I can tell you that

00:21there was a point in time in which Alcatraz was open as well and there

00:25seemingly weren't any issues. The fact is as the mayor of any city I want to be

00:31clear that there is a duty and that duty is to make sure that any and every

00:36building that is opened in that city is up to code. So just because something may

00:41have been up to code in 2008 doesn't mean that in 2025 that it was up to code

00:46and there are those that should respect the authority of the city in which they

00:51are operating in. And somehow during the later hours of last night we saw that

01:00while the mayor had been unlawfully charged those charges ended up being

01:06dropped. The mayor of the largest city in the state of New Jersey was charged with

01:12criminal trespass. Now we have video footage and I'm not gonna play it but we

01:17have video footage of literally them opening the gate and then asking him to

01:21leave and then he left. Therefore there is no criminal trespass but the reason that

01:27I bring it up is because this entire situation could have been avoided if

01:31people just would know their jobs and actually do their jobs because the entire

01:37chaos that ensued it ensued because of the unlawful detainment and arrest of the

01:44mayor in the first place. But let me get to my actual remarks. The Republicans have

01:49called today's hearing for one purpose. To help an administration that's already

01:53rooted in lawlessness and corruption execute their dangerous assault on

01:57American democracy. So in today's hearing you'll hear them admonish their own

02:02congressional colleagues and excuse the behavior of the out-of-control corrupt

02:07Trump administration. They're going to try to convince you that they're here to

02:11protect law and order and the rule of law. But they won't mention how the Trump

02:16administration is openly defying many of the 162 court rulings that have paused his

02:23illegal executive orders. They won't talk about how the president has called for

02:27the impeachment of judges who rule against him or how they're allowing ICE

02:31agents to raid churches and elementary schools. They won't talk about how they're

02:37allowing Trump to purge the Department of Justice of employees who helped

02:41investigate the January 6 insurrectionists. They won't talk about how this

02:46administration is preparing to give five million dollars to the family of Ashley

02:52Babbitt who participated in said insurrection because they don't actually

02:57care about law and order and the rule of law. They're here today for one reason to

03:04forfeit their constitutional oversight responsibilities. But since I decided to

03:09bring up January 6th, let me run a tape to remind y'all of the difference of

03:15congressional oversight versus criminals.

03:20We're here conducting an oversight visit, which we had the power to do as

03:30congressional members.

03:31That's your Tory authority. And so that is what we're here for. And we're waiting to speak to a supervisor to let us in here because

03:43we will be your eyes and your ears and we will report to you, mayor.

03:57Let's go, let's go, let's go.

03:59Let's go, let's go.

04:01It's interesting that one set of behavior somehow is going to get a family rich overnight.

04:10And the other folk, the other folk that were there in that video, the members of

04:16Congress, where they're saying arrest them. Let me remind you that those January

04:20Sixers have been pardoned. Let me remind you that yet another January Sixer was just

04:26arrested a few days ago for committing what? Another crime. So if we're going to

04:31talk about us keeping our streets safe, let's be real about who's causing crimes, who

04:37actually went through what we call due process because no one denied the January

04:42Six insurrectionists of their due process. They went to court. They either pled guilty

04:47or were found guilty and they were sent to prison and half of them, actually all of them, if their

04:52sentences said so, should still be in prison because we as Americans would be safer. We

04:58won't get into the fact that another one was already in trouble because they had

05:02already killed somebody. But I'll continue on. Right now, our Republican colleagues

05:10want to forfeit their constitutional oversight responsibilities. Let's talk

05:14about what's actually happening. In March, we learned that the Trump

05:18administration was dismantling the Department of Homeland Security's Office of

05:22Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and terminating staff at the Office of the

05:27Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. And in the Office of

05:32Immigration Detention Ombudsman, because they argue, quote, these offices have

05:40obstructed immigration enforcement and, quote, undermined DHS's mission. The Office of

05:48Civil Rights and Civil Liberties investigates public complaints about

05:51possible violations of civil rights and civil liberties in DHS activities, including

05:56immigration enforcement and discrimination. And in the immigration detention

06:01ombudsman's primary, it is their primary responsibility to conduct oversight on

06:08conditions at immigration detention centers. So why would the Trump

06:14administration want to dismantle offices tasked with conducting oversight of

06:19immigration enforcement and detention facilities? The simple answer is, without

06:25them, there will be no internal oversight offices to assess the legality of the

06:30Trump administration's policies on immigration enforcement. So what have the

06:35results been? Since Trump took office on January 20th, nine detainees have died in

06:43ICE custody. In fact, in Trump's first month in office, more detainees died in ICE

06:51custody than at any time since fiscal year 2020. Congressional Democrats have engaged in

07:00oversight activities of immigration facilities across the country from Florida, where a 44-year-old

07:07Haitian woman died in ICE custody, to Newark, New Jersey, where three of our Democratic colleagues

07:16visited an immigration detention facility has visited an immigration detention facility to ensure the humane

07:20treatment of detainees. This wasn't about going in and breaking nobody out, y'all, especially when

07:27there were cameras rolling everywhere. That's not what they were there to do.

07:33Now, in a breathtaking act of executive obstruction of congressional oversight and the unprecedented

07:40weaponization of the Department of Justice, we have an interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, who for years

07:48has argued in court that Donald Trump is above the law. She has announced criminal charges against

07:55Congresswoman McIver for, quote, impeding and interfering with law enforcement. However, our power as members of

08:04Congress to conduct oversight is found in the Constitution and federal law. In fact, federal law explicitly

08:14prohibits DHS from, quote, preventing a member of Congress from entering for the purpose of conducting

08:24oversight any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house

08:33aliens or to make any temporary modification at any such facility that in any way alters what is observed

08:42by a visiting member of Congress. It is against the law. Full stop. Separately, the court has consistently

08:53held that the speech and debate clause of the Constitution protects individual members from prosecution for

09:00legislative acts, including, quote, fact finding, field investigations, and information gathering.

09:08The court has consistently held that the primary purpose of the speech and debate clause is to, quote,

09:14prevent intimidation by the executive and before a possibly hostile judiciary. So let's call this for what it is.

09:24This administration is criminalizing legislative oversight and the Republicans on this committee are helping them to do so.

09:32Rep McIver didn't engage in interference. It was ICE that engaged in interference while members of Congress attempted to conduct

09:40legitimate oversight of ICE facilities. Everyone, whether you are American or not,

09:48should be deeply disturbed and worried about Trump's abuse of power. They're attacking universities for

09:57teaching things they don't like. They're attacking law firms for representing clients that they don't like.

10:03This hearing and these charges are an attempt at political intimidation. The three members in Newark were

10:10exercising their constitutional duties to check an out of control executive branch. This entire situation happened

10:19because of the unjust arrest of Mayor Baraka. And not only were the members invited in and given a tour of the facility,

10:29this was after they so-called had broken the law. Now, I don't know about y'all, but where I'm from in Texas,

10:37I can tell you that I'm not used to having law enforcement see a crime happen right in front of

10:43their faces and then say, never mind. We'll just go about our business. In fact, why don't you go ahead

10:49and come on in? Come on in. We gonna do this tour because, oops, we did make a mistake because,

10:54technically by law, we are supposed to allow you in. And wait a minute, while you're here,

10:58do y'all want something to drink? We got refreshments for you as well. And then after you conduct

11:03this oversight and you actually gave a clean bill of health because you were never there to disrupt,

11:13you were always there to do your duty, they came out and they said, everything looks good.

11:22And then it wasn't at that moment that they decided to arrest members. It wasn't the next day. In fact,

11:27even as I sit here today, no member has been arrested. Now you tell me how many times you can

11:35see the robber go in the bank, steal the money. And then they say, well, never mind. We'll think

11:40about this later. That is what you call politicizing. And that is what we are here to talk about is wrong.

11:49We got a few other issues with ICE right now. So I'm gonna get to them in a second.

11:57The DOJ, as I said already, has already dropped the charges against the mayor. Look,

12:02they're coming after everyone who uses their constitutional rights and duties to speak truth

12:06to power. The press, the courts, and now members of Congress. And to be perfectly honest,

12:14I had my team do the research. Under no other president, Democrat or Republican, can we find

12:22an incident where they have tried to arrest members of Congress. This is absolutely absurd

12:30that they were out there simply doing their duty. We have never seen ICE act in this way. In fact,

12:38it's not less oversight that we need right now. It's more. In fact, I'm going to tell you,

12:43actually, I'm not going to tell you. I can show you better than I can tell you. Roll the tape.

12:53Shocking video showing the moment ICE agents smashed a car window and forcibly removed a

12:58man in New Bedford. 29-year-old Juan Francisco Mendez has no criminal record and was...

13:03Stop! Stop, ma'am! Stop! Stop!

13:07Definitely a chaotic scene on Eureka Street Thursday as Worcester police and ICE agents

13:15detained a mother and her 16-year-old daughter. That girl's face slammed into the ground as she was

13:19taken into custody. They have not been identified. Worcester police said officers were dispatched to

13:24the area for a report of a federal agent surrounded by about two dozen people. When police arrived,

13:29they say the teen daughter... Agents smashed his window and dragged him out while his small children

13:36cried in the back seat and his partner recorded the incident.

13:39You can't tell me

13:45that somebody in this building shouldn't do their jobs because these people are out of control.

13:53You're talking about arresting members of Congress? These masked agents are running around acting this

14:00way? This is not okay. This shouldn't be about politics. We all should be on the same side saying

14:07we will not stand for this type of activity, but instead they want to pretend like it's members of

14:14Congress that are the thugs. It's members of Congress that are the ones that are stoking this kind of

14:20violence. Let me tell you what those members of Congress were doing. They were trying to make

14:24sure that there would not be another mother that would lose her life in ICE custody as it was Mother's

14:30Day weekend. They decided that they just wanted to make sure that people were safe because that is who

14:36we are supposed to be in this country. And honestly, for anybody that considers themselves to be a

14:41Christian, they should care about treating people in a humane way. And they should also care about due

14:48process. Everyone in this country under our Constitution is due due process. With that, I will yield.

15:00Ranking member yields back. With that, I'll now recognize the chairman of the

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