Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy said on Monday that Democratic members of the House of Representatives involved in an altercation with agents of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could be prosecuted.
Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez Jr. of New Jersey were involved in a fracas outside the ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday, during which Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark was arrested. McCarthy expressed caution about the possibility of the Trump administration actually deciding to press charges.
READ: Newt Gingrich Previews ‘Big Step’ He Says Will Reshape Economy
“They certainly are vulnerable to facing charges,” McCarthy told “The Story” guest host Gillian Turner. “I wonder if that is a line that we want to cross so early in the game, but the administration does have a right to say that they need to send a signal and a strong signal, and the fact of the matter is respectfully, your previous guest was wrong to the extent that you know, he suggested that there would be some agreement between the position he took, and Justice Scalia recognized explicitly that immigration enforcement is paramount a role of the federal government, not the state government and when state officials impede the enforcement of federal law they leave themselves open to prosecution.”
“You can ask whether… it’s better to prosecute them,” McCarthy continued. “I would remind people that this is a very diverse country and the city that we are talking about right here, Newark, these sanctuary, pro-sanctuary Democratic politicians didn’t spontaneously appear, they were elected, so there is a very big difference of opinion in this country about how we ought to be dealing with this and prosecuting public officials is a pretty serious line to cross.”
READ: New Jersey Democrats Caught In ICE Facility Mayhem Point Finger At Agency
Upon taking office on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued several executive orders to address illegal immigration, including designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and the El Salvadoran prison gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations. McCarthy scoffed at claims by the Democratic lawmakers that they were checking on constituents.
“They’re not constituents. Most of them are illegally in the United States,” McCarthy told Turner. “That is a very extravagant idea of what a constituent is. The federal government is responsible for the enforcement of the immigration laws and the courts have clearly held that immigration enforcement is first and foremost a federal responsibility. The states can’t be commandeered to support federal enforcement, but they can’t obstruct it, and if they impede it, then they are liable to be prosecuted.”
The Democratic lawmakers denied wrongdoing in a Sunday appearance on CNN.
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Connect with us: Follow the Tampa Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for breaking news and updates.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
