Washington, D.C. (May 21, 2025)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, led Democrats in standing up against the Trump Administration’s attempts to intimidate Members of Congress conducting lawful oversight of Trump’s chaotic immigration enforcement.
The hearing included testimony from: Jason Houser, Former ICE Chief of Staff, Department of Homeland Security counterterrorism official, Afghanistan combat veteran, and U.S. CYBERCOM liaison to Israel and Europe; Andrew Arthur, Resident Fellow in Law and Policy, Center for Immigration Studies; Scott Mechkowski, Former Deputy Director, New York Field Office, ICE; and Charles Marino, Former Senior Law Enforcement Advisor, Department of Homeland Security.
Democrats made clear that the Trump Administration is attempting to intimidate Members of Congress to stifle oversight and accountability, including by bringing baseless and purely political charges against Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver.
- Ranking Member Crockett said: “Let’s call this for what it is. This Administration is criminalizing legislative oversight, and the Republicans on this Committee are helping them to do so.”
- Ranking Member Raskin said: “Rep. McIver was executing one of the core duties of a Member of Congress—oversight—pursuant to her precise statutory right to enter and visit an ICE facility. For the Department of Justice to charge her frivolously with assault is an outrage against the Constitution, which protects Members of Congress from civil and criminal prosecution for performance of their core legislative duties. It is also a scandal in light of the Department of Justice’s constant backing of actual cop-beating insurrectionists.”
- Ranking Member Crockett asked Democratic witness Mr. Houser, a former ICE Chief of Staff: “Does Congress have the power to conduct federal oversight over detention facilities?” He explained: “Yes, and quite frankly, a bit of confusion that I’ve been hearing today: oversight by Congress is, of course, mandated by law. But additionally, oversight not only in the immigration space protects the migrants, but also protects law enforcement and public safety, in making sure they have the resources they need. In my position over 15 years at the Department, I oversaw hundreds of visits by congressional Members, advocacy groups, immigration groups, law enforcement groups, and in no way did I ever see this sort of situation that we saw at Delaney Hall where there was a powder keg driven by the political theater, being driven by the White House.”
- Rep. Hank Johnson explained: “While producing a highly prejudicial, expertly edited video published to taint the jury pool and shape a false narrative on Rep. McIver’s actions, MAGA Republicans are using this hearing to justify the charges against her. […] What is really happening is that Trump and his MAGA enablers are misusing their positions of power to prosecute people who refuse to lay down and get run over as they assault our liberties. And they are trying to intimidate members of Congress from performing our duties. […] Members of Congress have the legal authority to visit ICE facilities so that we can perform oversight. It’s one of the things we are elected to do. But this Administration has become increasingly authoritarian and will not tolerate anyone asking questions.”
Democrats explained how Trump Administration is violating the rights and freedoms of the people of the United States through their chaotic immigration enforcement, while they attempt to evade oversight of their illegal actions.
- Ranking Member Raskin said: “The U.S. Supreme Court even had to issue an emergency order at 1:00 in the morning on April 19th to stop an unlawful attempt by the Administration to conduct a mass deportation of Venezuelans without any due process whatsoever. They told them to turn the vans and the buses around. There had been no hearings, no opportunity to be represented, no opportunity to hear even the charges against them. No court orders. And just last Friday, the Supreme Court upheld this ban on deportations, reaffirming once again that every immigrant in the country is entitled to due process—the two most beautiful words in the English language. It’s due process that separates our rights and freedoms from arbitrary power by the state.”
- Ranking Member Crockett said: “Right now, our Republican colleagues want to forfeit their constitutional oversight responsibilities. […] In March, we learned that the Trump Administration was dismantling the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and terminating staff at the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, and in the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman, because they argue, ‘these offices have obstructed immigration enforcement” and “undermined DHS’s mission.’ […] So why would the Trump Administration want to dismantle offices tasked with conducting oversight of immigration enforcement and detention facilities? The simple answer is, without them, there will be no internal oversight offices to assess the legality of the Trump Administration’s policies on immigration enforcement.”
