The stakes here are deeply personal. Rep. McIver is a young Black woman, a mother, and currently pregnant with her second child. But this is not simply a story about a pregnant mother facing prosecution. It is about what she was doing that day. She was at Delaney Hall as a member of Congress conducting a lawful oversight visit, standing up for the women and families being held there. The women in that facility are mothers, daughters, sisters, and someone’s loved ones. Everyone in Delaney is someone’s baby, too. Rep. McIver was carrying out her congressional duty to oversee what was happening inside that facility, and she is now being prosecuted as a result of what happened that day. As a mother herself, she was there to be a protector and advocate for people who may not have had a voice in that moment..

And as women, mothers, daughters, and families, I think we can all understand how serious that is. There are mothers who never want to imagine their children watching them be taken away from their families. There are daughters who never want to imagine losing their mother to years in prison. Whatever your politics may be, that should make all of us stop and think about what is happening here.

This petition does not ask anyone to ignore the rule of law. It asks the Department of Justice to exercise its prosecutorial authority responsibly and recognize the broader consequences of prosecuting a member of Congress following an authorized oversight visit.

What We’re Asking

Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer: please drop the federal charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver.

Members of Congress must be able to investigate federal detention facilities, question executive-branch conduct, and carry out legitimate oversight without fearing that a confrontation arising from that work could become the basis for years of imprisonment.

Please sign this petition and join me in asking the Department of Justice to drop the charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver and protect Congress’s ability to conduct meaningful oversight of the executive branch.