Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (May 19, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, Rep. Hank Johnson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet, and Rep. Lucy McBath, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, released the following statement following the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) unfounded targeting of Rep. LaMonica McIver:

“The targeting of Representative McIver is a blatant attempt to intimidate Members of Congress and to block our oversight of this administration’s actions, which have been enjoined more than 150 times by federal courts. We stand by Representative McIver’s exercise of her constitutional rights and duties. If you come for the legal rights of one of us, you come for the rights of all of us. 

“Members of Congress have the right to conduct oversight, full stop — whether that’s holding Cabinet officials accountable or visiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. Representative McIver was performing her proper oversight role, a role she was elected by the American people to do — and even participated in a one-hour tour after the incident occurred. 

“Charging Members of Congress for doing our jobs is a dangerous precedent to set. It reveals the increasingly authoritarian nature of this Administration and its relentless, illegal attempts to suppress any dissent or oversight, including from judges, Members of Congress, and the American people, which check lawless executive power. Representative McIver has our full support, and we will do everything in our power to help fight this outrageous threat to our constitutional system.”

Background:

Section 527 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-47) explicitly states that the Department of Homeland Security cannot prevent Members of Congress from “entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight, any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens [...]. The law goes on to state that “Nothing in this section may be construed to require a Member of Congress to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility [...] for the purpose of conducting oversight.”