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FACEBOOK Just before getting peppersprayed, Senator Andy Kim tried to de-escalate the confrontation. |
This incident is ridiculous. ICE agents pepper-sprayed a US Senator. The incident with New Jersey's Korean American Sen. Andy Kim demonstrates, once again, the need to rein in Donald Trump's out-of-control army.
The thin veneer of constitutional governance didn't just crack outside Newark’s Delaney Hall—it was blasted apart by a cloud of federal-grade pepper spray.
When Kim was filmed on Monday clutching an ice pack while street medics frantically flushed chemical irritants from his eyes, the imagery captured something far deeper than a chaotic protest. It gave a visceral face to a raging constitutional crisis: a rogue executive branch physically assaulting the very lawmakers empowered to oversee it.
"My eyes were hurting, my throat was burning," Kim said afterwards.
The clash
The powder keg ignited over a hunger strike inside the privately run, 1,000-bed immigration warehouse. Roughly 300 detainees are currently risking starvation to protest what advocates call "inhumane" living conditions, including acute medical neglect.
When Kim, Governor Mikie Sherrill, and other New Jersey Democrats showed up for a critical oversight visit, they were met with immediate stonewalling. Sherrill was completely blocked at the gate. Senator Kim only forced his way inside after making a direct, high-stakes phone call to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
But the true ugly underbelly of federal enforcement was waiting for Kim when he stepped back outside.
Faced with a tense standoff between an armored ICE vehicle, heavily weaponized agents, and a human chain of peaceful demonstrators, Kim did what a leader is supposed to do: he stepped into the gap. Putting his hands up in a universal "stop" motion, the Korean American senator tried to broker a de-escalation.
The federal response? In an interview with CNN''s Jake Tapper, Kim said:
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| US Sen. Andy Kim had his eyes flushed out after getting pepperspreayed by ICE agents. |
"So I tried my best to get between the ICE agents and the crowd as the ICE convoy decided to just go ahead and plow through the crowd, which was just absolutely so dangerous of an action that they were doing. So I remember the pepper balls starting to get shot towards my feet and past me. I did not get hit directly by a pepper ball, but certainly between the pepper balls and then the pepper spray that was happening, I’d certainly had an irritation and burning sensation in my eyes and my throat.
"But more broadly, this was something that was avoidable. We were trying to find a way to be able to move forward that wasn’t gonna escalate in this way. But ICE decided that they just had enough and they were gonna just move ahead. And I just thought that was an incredibly dangerous action for them to do. And that continued problems, that continued threat of violence and escalation continues today. Tomorrow, I mean, ... we’re seeing just a heightened level of danger right now in New Jersey."
Lawless enforcers
Let’s cut through the Department of Homeland Security’s spin, which quickly dismissed the oversight visit as a "political stunt."
The law is unequivocal. Under Section 527 of the DHS Appropriations Act, no taxpayer funds may be used to block a Member of Congress from entering or inspecting an immigration detention facility. Period. Full stop. Federal courts reaffirmed this exact mandate earlier this year in Neguse v. Noem, ruling that the executive branch lacks the authority to gatekeep congressional oversight.
ICE’s defense rests on an unconstitutional house of cards—specifically, an agency-invented rule requiring a seven-day advance notice for visits. But a federal agency’s internal memo cannot override statutory federal law.
Furthermore, under standard DHS Use of Force Directives, federal agents are legally restricted to using force that is "objectively reasonable." Deploying chemical weapons against a visible, compliant federal lawmaker attempting to peacefully negotiate a crowd clearance violates the core tenets of acceptable law enforcement behavior.
Kim to take action
Can these agents be disciplined? On paper, absolutely. The DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) possess the clear authority to suspend, terminate, or recommend criminal assault charges against the officers involved.
But in the Trump regime, "can" and "will" are miles apart. With a DHS leadership that treats congressional oversight like an enemy insurgency, internal investigators will face immense institutional pressure to sweep this under the rug as standard "crowd control."
Kim hasn't signaled an intent to file personal charges or lawsuits. He knows the battlefield is systemic. Instead of getting bogged down in an uphill legal battle against qualified immunity, Kim is taking the fight back to Washington, demanding the permanent shutdown of Delaney Hall and drafting legislation to cut off the administration's ability to buy up more corporate detention warehouses.
When federal law enforcement agents feel entitled to pepper-spray the lawmakers who hold the purse strings, the balance of power is no longer just threatened. It's on fire.
“What we saw here is unfortunately just what we see all over the country,” Kim told NJ.com. “It’s sad, it’s a sad day.”
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