AOC: DHS Will Have 'Problem' If House Dems Get Arrested

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Department of Homeland Security officials will have "a problem" if they arrest House Democrats protesting the Trump administration's immigration policies.

In a video posted to Instagram on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez accused DHS of "public intimidation" and specifically mentioned Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan.

"If anyone's breaking the law in this situation, it's not members of Congress; it's the Department of Homeland Security," Ocasio-Cortez said. "It's people like Tom Homan and Secretary Kristi Noem."

"You lay a finger on someone, on Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman … or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, we are going to have a problem," she said. "Because the people who are breaking the law are the people not abiding by it."

It was unclear exactly what the progressive congresswoman was referring to in her comment.

Ocasio-Cortez's warning comes as Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, told Newsmax that three New Jersey Democrats in Congress — Watson Coleman and Reps. Robert Menendez and LaMonica McIver — could face charges over their altercation with federal immigration authorities during a visit to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center known as Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday.

ICE officials assert that Watson Coleman, Menendez, and McIver were pushing and shoving among the crowd of protesters gathered outside the detention center. Watson Coleman denies the claim.

"Members of Congress and any public official is not above the law," McLaughlin said Tuesday on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."

"You cannot body slam, body ram, shove, strike, or otherwise assault a law enforcement officer. Everything is still on the table. I'll leave [charging decisions] to the Department of Justice, but it is despicable to watch members of Congress assault law enforcement, and we will do everything we can to protect our brave law enforcement who so bravely operate this facility."

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat, was arrested and held for several hours after a confrontation with federal agents during the same visit. He was ultimately released.

The federal immigration detention center has become a flash point in New Jersey, with Trump administration officials arguing Delaney Hall is necessary as it seeks to detain criminals who are in the U.S. illegally, and Baraka and other Democrats saying the administration has not obtained the permits needed to operate the center.

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