Tom Homan Battles MSNBC Anchor Questioning Congresswoman’s Assault Charge After ICE ‘Scuffle’: ‘She Was Out of Line!’
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing pressed Trump border czar Tom Homan on a Democratic congresswoman being charged with assault after being involved in a “skirmish” at a New Jersey ICE facility.
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) is facing a charge of “assaulting, impeding or interfering with law enforcement,” according to Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba. McIver, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D), and Reps. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) visited the Newark ICE facility on May 9 and video shows that things got heated between the lawmakers and ICE agents.
Habba also announced she agreed to drop a misdemeanor charge against Baraka, who was arrested at the incident.
Numerous Democrats have rushed to defend McIver, arguing the case against her is political intimidation and that she never posed a threat at the ICE facility. Homan adamantly disagreed on Tuesday when Jansing questioned the charge.
According to McIver, she and other lawmakers were there to conduct “oversight.” She called her charges “purely political” and claimed ICE agents unnecessarily escalated the situation at the facility.
My statement on the charges filed against me: pic.twitter.com/urxCAt1ZEc
— Rep. LaMonica McIver (@RepLaMonica) May 20, 2025
“Do you believe that they could have unnecessarily escalated the situation given that members of Congress have a right to be there and to go in?” Jansing asked Homan on Tuesday.
“Well, look, they have a right to be there for oversight, but there’s a proper way to do it. Forcing your way in the facility, putting hands on an ICE officer, is not the way to do it, so I think she was out of line. I’ve seen the videotape, I’ve seen six or seven different videotapes. They show her acting unprofessionally,” Homan said.
He said the lawmakers should have requested a tour of the facility ahead of time.
“I think it was politics over over over public safety. That’s a facility where the worst of the worst are housed, we can’t lose control of that facility. But her actions cause the ruckus at that facility,” he said.
“Even if you believe she was unprofessional, did you see something in that tape that suggested she was criminal?” Jansing asked. “Is there a tape we haven’t seen? Because the charging documents suggest that she somehow assaulted two of the ICE agents there. I did not see that in that tape.”
“Well, I’ve seen tapes where she has made body contact with ICE officers and pushing them. I mean, there’s a lot of tapes out there. I mean there’s numerous tapes,” Homan said.
“In a scuffle, is it normal that people would make body contact, though, Mr. Homan?” Jansing pushed back.
Homan maintained the lawmaker did not conduct oversight in the “right way” by coordinating with the facility.
“I think she crossed the line. Again, I’m not the prosecutor, I don’t have to prove it in court, but the video I saw shows her at fault,” Homan said.
“If she was in some way dangerous, if she caused the facility to be unsafe, why would they ultimately let her in?” Jansing asked.
Homan maintained that the congresswoman “forced” her way in.
“But you acknowledge she did go into the facility. So why would she be let in?” Jansing asked.
“Look, I wasn’t there, I’m just telling what I’ve learned through my sources and from the videotapes I saw that she forced her way into the facility,” Homan said, insisting the ICE agents acted “professionally” while McIver “could have been a hell of a lot more professional on that and on that day.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
