On Friday, May 9, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested by federal agents outside of an immigrant jail in Newark. Baraka is running for his state’s governor seat. His arrest came just one week after Delaney Hall, a migrant jail, opened its doors. The jail is the largest immigrant detention center on the East Coast. A lawsuit has been filed by Newark challenging whether proper city permits were secured by the owner of the new facility.
Newark Mayor Released
The Newark mayor was charged with trespassing. He was released after 8 p.m. When he was arrested, Baraka was outside the facility protesting the immigrant detention center’s opening this week. The Newark mayor says the facility was being run illegally.
On Friday, New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced the arrest of X. “The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, this afternoon. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law,” she continued. “That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”
Baraka Questioned Permits
Since the facility was announced, Baraka had vocally pushed back against its opening. Delaney Hall is run by the private prison operator GEO Group. Baraka says that there were issues with the city building permits.
On Friday, Baraka reportedly attempted to enter Delaney Hall with Rep. Robert Menendez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and LaMonica Molver. The attempt to enter was part of a previously scheduled oversight visit and a tour of the facility. After they arrived, federal agents denied Baraka access to the building, and a verbal dispute began. Baraka returned to the public area, but the verbal confrontation continued.
Newark Mayor Denied Entry
“The agents started intimidating and putting their hands on the congresswomen. There was yelling and pushing,” Martinez said. “Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.”
Watson Coleman used her X account to document the incident with images and a video. The video began with the group being denied access to the facility. “We’re at Delaney Hall, an ICE prison in Newark that opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances,” Coleman wrote. “We’ve heard stories of what it’s like in other ICE prisons. We’re exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves.”
DHS Releases Statement
A statement was released by the Department of Homeland Security, which alleged that the members of Congress attempted to bombard the building as a group of detainees was being brought to the facility. The immigration detention center sits across the street from the county jail; the GEO Group was awarded the contract for the building by ICE for $1 billion. The group has a 15-year contract to operate the facility.
The Newark mayor filed a lawsuit against the CEO Group, but the facility moved forward with detaining migrants on May 1. The opening of Delaney Hall came amid Trump’s plan to increase the number of detention centers across the U.S.
