Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Slams ICE and Trump Admin for Manhandling DWC Members at Delaney Hall Detention Facility

CONTACT:  

Lizzie Johnson, lizzie.johnson@mail.house.gov (DWC) 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Yesterday, in Newark, New Jersey, masked ICE agents physically assaulted DWC members Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver as they waited to take a tour of Delaney Hall ICE Detention Facility with Rep. Rob Menendez and Mayor Ras Baraka. Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03) released the following statement:

“It is appalling that congressional leaders were met with physical violence from armed, masked ICE agents while exercising their constitutional duty to conduct oversight. What kind of country have we become where armed, masked men push around democracy and due process? 

Trump claims to ‘protect women.’ Yet on camera, in broad daylight, his administration assaulted two Congresswomen doing their job. And just yesterday in Worcester, ICE agents held a teenage woman to the ground as she screamed. We know these are just the latest of far too many of these attacks. No matter your political affiliation, the video of what ICE did to elected representatives should send chills down your spine. If agents did this to them, in broad daylight, on camera, what could they do to anybody else? Trump is a grave threat to women’s safety, to due process, and to our constitution. 

I am deeply thankful for the courage and strength of Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, Rob Menendez, and Mayor Ras Baraka who stood up and spoke out. In Congress, in the courts, and in our communities, we will keep fighting for the rights, safety, and due process of women and their families in detention facilities, in their neighborhoods, and across every corner of this country.”

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