NEWARK, NJ – Today, POLITICO reported that the Department of Homeland Security would no longer allow members of Congress to conduct oversight visits, citing the government shutdown. Congresswoman LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), who was charged by the Trump administration and indicted in connection with an oversight visit she conducted in May at an ICE detention facility in her district, issued the following statement:
“ICE wants to operate in the dark and this president wants to let them. Trump and Republicans are using the shutdown that they caused as an excuse to give ICE coverage to operate without oversight. It’s wrong and it’s not what happens in a democracy,” said Rep. McIver. “My job is to protect the people I represent. That means making sure government is accountable to them. Oversight is a power members of Congress are granted by the Constitution and other legal authorities; it can’t be taken away because the president doesn’t like it.”
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