McIver on Political Intimidation and the Need for Oversight
By Insider NJ | June 8, 2025, 3:49 pm | in Caucus Room
... “We went there to conduct an oversight visit. Obviously, everyone knows as Congress members—we would think everyone knows—that we have the right to facilitate oversight visits at ICE facilities. I went [to Delaney Hall] with two of my colleagues, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez, who represent New Jersey. We’ve done this before, literally just a couple of months [ago] we went to a facility in Elizabeth, not too far from Delaney Hall, and conducted an oversight visit” ...
“We were able to speak to a few detainees about how they were not getting access to their lawyers or they had not been able to have phone calls or see any of their family members” ...
“I honestly think it’s political intimidation. As I always say, I'm just the next person on their list. We have been seeing ... weaponization from the Trump administration of different departments, and especially the DOJ. Whether it’s judges, political leaders that they’re investigating, we constantly continue to see this behavior” ...
“Trump's hateful immigration policies are at the doorsteps, in the backyards, of the people that I represent. We’ve seen them be extremely cruel. This is why we have this situation, because they are extremely cruel. Their policy is centered in cruelness: we've seen them deport children with cancer, we've seen them pick up students the last couple of days at school, we've seen them pick up people who are there for their court dates, we've seen them revoke student visas. [...] People are tired, they are fed up. This is why we see folks fighting back, speaking out, and it's unfortunate that now Trump is going to weaponize the military, weaponize the national guard, against Americans.”
https://www.insidernj.com/mciver-speaks-on-political-intimidation-and-urgent-need-for-oversight/