NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — On Friday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody at a federal immigration detention center where he had been demonstrating against its recent opening, according to a federal prosecutor.
Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, announced on the social media platform X that Baraka was arrested for trespassing and disregarding Homeland Security officials’ orders to vacate Delaney Hall, a detention facility managed by the private prison company GEO Group.
Habba said Baraka had “chosen to disregard the law” and added that he was taken into custody.
As a Democrat and a candidate aiming to replace New Jersey’s term-limited Governor Phil Murphy, Baraka has engaged actively in disputes with the Trump administration regarding illegal immigration policies.
He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.
Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join a scheduled tour of the facility with three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.
When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates.
“There was yelling and pushing,” Martinez said. “Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.”
In a statement, The Department of Homeland Security said that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of the facility, contrary to witnesses’ accounts. The department said further that as a bus carrying detainees was entering the facility, “a group of protestors, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.”
It said Menendez, Watson Coleman, and a number of protesters were currently “holed up in a guard shack” at the facility.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin was quoted in the statement as calling it “beyond a bizarre political stunt” and saying it put agents’ and detainees’ safety at risk.
“Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility,” McLaughlin said.
In video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not join a tour of the facility because “you are not a congress member.”
Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who informed him: “They’re talking about coming back to arrest you.”
“I’m not on their property, they can’t come out on the street and arrest me,” Baraka replied.
Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded Baraka and others on the public side of the gate. As protesters cried out, “Shame,” Baraka was dragged back through the security gate in handcuffs.
An email and phone message left with the mayor’s communications office were not immediately answered Friday afternoon. Kabir Moss, a spokesperson for Baraka’s gubernatorial campaign, said, “We are actively monitoring and will provide more details as they become available.”
The two-story building next to a county prison formerly operated as a halfway house.
Then in February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the Newark detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, which is an unusually long and large agreement for ICE.
The announcement was part of President Donald Trump’s plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year.
Baraka sued GEO Group soon after the deal was announced.
Geo touted the contract with Delaney Hall during its earnings call with shareholders Wednesday, with CEO David Donahue saying it was expected to generate more than $60 million a year in revenue. He said the facility began the intake process May 1.
Hall said the activation of facility and another in Michigan would increase total capacity under contract with ICE from around 20,000 beds to around 23,000.
DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared.
