Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) turned a congressional hearing on immigration detention into a lecture on Christianity, telling Republicans who “claim to be Christian” to open their Bibles. Crockett then read a verse warning believers to avoid the “unfruitful works of darkness,” applying the passage broadly to Republican lawmakers. She did not identify one Republican whose faith she was questioning or one specific act that prompted the religious attack.
The remarks came during a July 22nd hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, where Crockett serves as the ranking Democratic member. The hearing was titled “False Narratives Surrounding Conditions at the Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center” and focused on the federal immigration facility in Newark, New Jersey.
Committee Republicans called the hearing to examine the role of ICE detention centers and the protests that have surrounded Delaney Hall. According to the committee’s official hearing notice, lawmakers were set to examine how those demonstrations had disrupted immigration-enforcement operations and created public-safety concerns. Witnesses included two former immigration officials and researchers from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Center for Immigration Studies, and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.
Crockett used part of her remarks to question the sincerity of Republicans’ religious beliefs. “Since the Republicans claim to be Christian, they should open their Bibles and read Ephesians chapter five, verse 11,” she said in the clip posted by RNC Research. Her wording treated Republican lawmakers’ Christianity as questionable before she had even reached the biblical passage.
She then read the verse aloud: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:11 warns Christians against participating in sinful conduct and instructs them to expose it. Crockett invoked that language against Republicans collectively, placing their work on immigration enforcement under the biblical label of “works of darkness.”
The hearing itself contained specific testimony challenging allegations that Delaney Hall was dangerously overcrowded or failing to provide basic services. Scott Mechkowski, a retired deputy director of ICE’s New York field office, testified that the facility has capacity for 1,000 detainees but held 766 people on May 25 and 521 by June 15. He also said a June 8th state health inspection found the kitchen’s sanitation satisfactory and reported no evidence of rodents or vermin.
Mechkowski also addressed reports of a hunger strike at the facility. According to his written testimony, commissary sales increased from approximately $11,500 during the week before May 26th to more than $30,000 during the following week. He argued that the increase contradicted public claims that detainees were refusing food and said Delaney Hall operates under written national detention standards covering medical monitoring, food service, hygiene, and religious diets.
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Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge who appeared as another witness, described Delaney Hall as a 1,000-bed facility that opened for ICE detention operations on May 1st, 2025. His testimony said protests intensified beginning May 22nd, 2026, after reports that detainees had started a hunger strike over medical care, food, hygiene supplies, and other alleged conditions. Arthur also noted that federal detention standards govern food, medical care, hunger strikes, personal hygiene, language assistance, and religious practices inside the facility.
Watch Crockett tell Republicans who “claim to be Christian” to open their Bibles here:
Crockett’s decision to invoke Christianity also came eight days after she joined 27 other members of Congress in demanding that ICE protect the religious practices of Muslim detainees. The July 14th letter sought access to Qurans, prayer mats, hijabs, designated prayer areas, and halal meals at federal immigration facilities. “Individuals practicing their faith must be given reasonable accommodations — full stop,” the lawmakers wrote.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.