House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday hammered the Trump administration for threatening to arrest Democratic members of Congress, saying such a move would constitute a clear case of executive overreach.
“It’s a red line,” Jeffries told reporters in the Capitol. “They know better than to go down that road.”
Three House Democrats from New Jersey faced off against law enforcement officials outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility last week in Newark, N.J., where they were attempting to inspect a migrant detention center. They were joined by Newark’s Democratic mayor, Ras Baraka, who was arrested on charges of trespassing — an allegation he denies.
After Baraka’s arrest, the three New Jersey Democrats — Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver — were involved in a brief skirmish with ICE officials outside the facility. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has accused the lawmakers of assaulting the officers — “including body-slamming a female ICE officer," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CNN over the weekend.
The Democrats rejected the allegations, saying it was the officers — several of whom wore masks — who became physical with the lawmakers.
Still, McLaughlin said there will “likely” be more arrests in the incident, reiterating that targeting the lawmakers is “definitely on the table.”
Jeffries issued a statement shortly after the incident on Friday, defending his fellow Democrats and warning the administration against impeding the oversight powers granted to Congress under the Constitution.
On Tuesday, he took that message up a notch, characterizing McLaughlin as “a joke” while warning that Democrats won’t be cowed by Trump’s threats, especially as the president’s approval ratings have fallen well under water.
“We're not going to be intimidated by their tactics to try to force principled opposition from not standing up to their extremism,” Jeffries said.
“It didn't happen when Donald Trump temporarily was sitting high in the immediate aftermath of the election. Do you think it's going to happen now, when he's the most unpopular president in American history after his first 100 days?” the New York Democrat continued. “Give me a break. No one's intimidated by this dude — no one.
He added, “And so there are clear lines that they just dare not cross."
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