Overview
- A divided Third Circuit panel ruled Wednesday that two of the three federal counts accusing McIver of assaulting and impeding federal immigration officers during a May 9, 2025, oversight visit to Delaney Hall may proceed while vacating and remanding the third count for additional factual analysis.
- The majority, written by Judge Cindy Chung and joined by Judge Stephanos Bibas, concluded the alleged acts of grabbing or striking were nonlegislative and not covered by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.
- Judge Thomas Ambro dissented in part and urged the court to allow discovery into McIver’s selective‑prosecution claims and to remand a second count for fact‑finding on whether some contact was incidental to an authorized inspection.
- McIver denies the allegations, calls the prosecution politically motivated, says she is exploring legal options, and has pleaded not guilty; no trial date has been set and a conviction could carry up to 17 years in prison.
- The ruling places a spotlight on the boundary between congressional oversight rights and criminal statutes, ensures further district‑court fact‑finding on the remanded charge, and leaves open possible en banc or Supreme Court review that could shape future oversight confrontations with law enforcement.