House Democrat Wages a Lonely Legal Fight Testing Congress’s Power
In the year since the Justice Department charged her with assaulting immigration agents outside an ICE detention facility in Newark, Representative LaMonica McIver, Democrat of New Jersey, has tried to present an unflappable face. “This process has not stopped me from doing my job,” she told supporters outside a New Jersey courthouse in October. “It is not going to stop me from doing my job.” But the reality is that the case against her by the Trump administration — a test of executive power … Continue Reading
April 01, 2026
Black NJ Congresswoman Speaks On Facing 17 Years in Prison for Visiting ICE Detainees
President Donald Trump has a history of using the Justice Department to target his adversaries. Now, N.J. Rep. LaMonica McIver finds the stakes incredibly high as she and several other Black leaders in positions of power appear to be the targets of a political campaign meant to remove them permanently. Specifically, the first-term Democrat faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted on assault and interference charges. These charges stem from an incident in May 2025 during a visit to the … Continue Reading
March 30, 2026
Does the Constitution Protect This Congresswoman From Trump?
The Trump administration has made a habit of pressing criminal charges against Americans observing and protesting harsh immigration-enforcement tactics, using the power of the executive branch to intimidate and punish those who visibly dissent from the president’s political agenda. In many ways, the prosecution of LaMonica McIver is in line with this general approach. Last May, she was charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding” federal officials after ICE agents tangled with her outside … Continue Reading
January 19, 2026
The Congresswoman Criminalized for Visiting ICE Detainees
On the Friday before Mother’s Day, LaMonica McIver, a first-term Democratic congresswoman from New Jersey, spent the morning handing out roses in the maternity ward of a hospital in Newark. Her next stop, a visit to Delaney Hall, a federal immigration jail in her district, promised to be a more sombre affair, but she was “on a high note,” McIver told me. “We thought it would be a smooth day.” McIver arrived at Delaney Hall just before one o’clock. She was joining two other New Jersey … Continue Reading
March 03, 2025
Several House Democrats walk out of Trump speech mid-address
Several Democrats stood up and exited the chamber during President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, protesting his administration’s actions after six weeks in office. The first group of Democrats to walk out included Reps. Jasmine Crockett (Texas), Maxwell Frost (Fla.), Melanie Stansbury (New Mexico), LaMonica McIver (N.J.) and Lateefah Simon (Calif.). A few removed their outer business wear to reveal black t-shirts with messages to the president on their … Continue Reading
January 09, 2025
McIver seeks to continue Payne’s legacy on fighting peripheral artery disease
During his time in Washington, the late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark) was one of Congress’s chief advocates on an issue that rarely breaks into the mainstream political conversation: Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), a condition that reduces bloodflow to the arms and legs and that can lead to heart attacks, amputations, and in some cases death. Payne died last year, but his successor, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark), is continuing his fight. McIver has reintroduced one of Payne’s signature … Continue Reading