Habba says grand jury has returned indictment against McIver

New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor has officially announced the indictment of Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) over a May scuffle outside a migrant detention center in her home city, charges the congresswoman called an attempt at political intimidation. 

In a Tuesday evening statement posted to X, the social media platform where she has posted many official communiques from her office, interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba said that a grand jury has returned an indictment against McIver that could theoretically lead to a multi-year prison sentence.

“As I have stated in the past, it is my Constitutional obligation as the Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for New Jersey to ensure that our federal partners are protected when executing their duties,” Habba wrote. “While people are free to express their views for or against particular policies, they must not do so in a manner that endangers law enforcement and the communities those officers serve.”

The original complaint against McIver included two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding immigration officers, which Habba said today each carry a maximum eight-year sentence. Habba also referenced a third count that carries a maximum one-year penalty, but it’s not immediately clear what that charge is.

McIver said she will plead not guilty and, just as she has in the past, accused Habba and the administration of President Donald Trump’s administration of attempting to intimidate her and her fellow Democrats.

“The facts of this case will prove I was simply doing my job and will expose these proceedings for what they are: a brazen attempt at political intimidation,” she said. “This indictment is no more justified than the original charges, and is an effort by Trump’s administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do. But it won’t work – I will not be intimidated.”

“The facts are on our side, I will be entering a plea of not guilty, I’m grateful for the support of my community, and I look forward to my day in court,” she added.

Habba first filed charges against the congresswoman on May 19; the grand jury’s indictment specified the exact charges she will face. McIver participated in a virtual court hearing on May 21, where Magistrate Judge Stacey Adams released the congresswoman on her own recognizance. McIver did not plead during that hearing.

The battle between McIver and the Trump administration began on May 9, when the congresswoman, two fellow U.S. representatives, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka showed up at Newark’s Delaney Hall detention facility to conduct an oversight visit. Members of Congress are given the official right to conduct such visits at federal detention facilities, but local officials are not; Baraka was asked to leave, and he did, but he was then arrested anyway for trespassing just outside the facility’s gates.

When officers exited the gates to arrest the mayor, a small melee ensued in which McIver, fellow Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) and Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City), and a small crowd of protestors who had gathered scuffled with the officers who were leading Baraka away. Both sides said that the other had been the aggressor, and no injuries were reported.

The charges against Baraka were dismissed less than two weeks later. The federal judge handling the case reprimanded prosecutors for more than five minutes and called the mayor’s indictment a “worrisome misstep” from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

But at the same time as she dropped the charges against Baraka, Habba announced that she would pursue a separate case against McIver, saying that Habba had assaulted immigration officers and impeded Baraka’s arrest. (Watson Coleman and Menendez were not charged.) The charges led to widespread outcry from Democrats, though most Republicans have stood behind Habba and the Trump administration’s decision.

There are also some questions about how long Habba, who has brought a more partisan approach to the U.S. Attorney’s office than prior officeholders, will be able to stay in her prosecutorial role. As the interim U.S. Attorney, Habba can theoretically only stay in office for 120 days, which would mean that she’ll leave office sometime in July, but the Trump administration has proven willing to attempt to bend the rules on judicial appointments like hers.

The migrant detention center in question, Delaney Hall, reopened in May after Immigration and Customs Enforcement signed a 15-year contract to use the facility for about $60 million per year. Baraka and other Democrats have said the facility is operating without the required permits and certificates; Newark is currently suing GEO Group, the private-prison company that operates Delaney Hall, over the matter.

The charges also come at a politically chaotic time for New Jersey. Polls for the state’s 2025 primaries will close at 8 p.m., and most state politicians are heavily focused on races for governor and State Assembly tonight instead – and will likely be baffled that the state’s U.S. Attorney chose to release a major piece of news regarding a prominent political figure now.