New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested At Ice Facility

NEWARK, New Jersey — The mayor of New Jersey’s largest city, who is a Democratic candidate for governor, was handcuffed and detained by federal officials on Friday at a protest of an ICE facility following a scrum involving three members of Congress seeking a tour of the facility.

It was unclear if the mayor, Ras Baraka, was being formally arrested or exactly where he was after he was handcuffed Friday afternoon.

The arrest followed a chaotic scene in the facility’s parking lot involving protestors, federal law enforcement officers and the three members — Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver — at Delaney Hall.

The interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, confirmed that Baraka was detained.

"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," she wrote on X. "He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW."

The arrest followed a chaotic scene in the facility’s parking lot involving protestors, federal law enforcement officers and the three members — Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver — at Delaney Hall, the Trump administration's newest ICE detention facility, which is expected to play a major role in its Northeast immigration operations.

"This most assuredly is the most discomforting, concerning visit we have had. And what we experienced was the weaponization, of the abuse of power, that this administration has given ICE to do," Watson Coleman said. "ICE is out of control."

The roughly 1,000-bed facility just recently started taking detainees. The Baraka administration has tried to prevent it from opening, taking the private prison operator that runs the facility to court and alleging it does not have proper city permits.

The detention unfolded after Baraka was apparently allowed inside a fenced parking lot at the facility and then later told to leave.

The three House members had been inside the facility and then came out with officers wearing gear that identified them variously as federal police, ICE and homeland security personnel. At one point, the three Democratic members, who had been seeking a tour of the facility, came out as authorities threatened to arrest Baraka. They all exited to a parking lot outside the fence where protesters had gathered.

The three members then reentered the fenced area, but Menendez quickly came back and warned Baraka that the authorities still wanted to arrest Baraka. When Menendez came to warn Baraka, he looked through the fence and told the mayor, "They are talking about coming out to arrest you."

McIver, who represents Newark, said she and her colleagues came to the facility for a "simple oversight visit" but they had to wait about two hours to get inside. She and Watson Coleman were "assaulted" and Menendez was "roughed up" afterward. Menendez said that "all of us were touched," calling what happened to McIver an “assault."

"What we just witnessed was disgusting," McIver said. "If they can treat three members of Congress like that, just imagine how they can treat people on the street each and every day."

The law enforcement officials all came out, setting off a scrum, with Baraka and Watson Coleman in the middle. The group all then reentered into the fenced-in area as Baraka was handcuffed and detained. The three members of Congress continued to be inside the secure area of the facility and ICE officials did not responded to shouted questions about Baraka’s status. Protestors on the scene, which included members of the SEIU union, were moving to the field office because they believe the mayor is being held there.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, described the events differently. It said in a statement that as a bus of detainees was entering the security gate of Delaney Hall a group of protestors and two members of Congress — Menendez and Watson Coleman — "stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility. "

“These members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk," the agency said. "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. This is an evolving situation.”

Baraka, a staunch progressive and one of six Democrats running for governor this year, has been a vocal opponent of the Trump administration’s plans for the immigration detention facility. While other Democratic candidates have spoken out against the Trump administration’s recent immigration actions, none have done so as forcefully as Baraka. He took part in a rally against the reopening of the facility in March — footage of which has appeared in his campaign ads — and has been “demanding entry” into Delaney Hall throughout the week since its opening.

Newark, which is home to a diverse population, previously filed a complaint with the Essex County Superior Court, alleging that ICE was planning to open Delaney Hall “without following proper building safety protocols.” GEO Group, the private prison contractor that owns the facility, has accused the legal action of being “politically motivated.”

At the March rally, Baraka told reporters that he would “love to see action” from his fellow Democratic candidates regarding immigration.

“They say they are against the detention facility in Newark, and that's the talk," Baraka said at the time. "I would love to see them out to help us in this effort. I mean, it is a competition, so maybe they feel like coming here supports me. I don't know what it is. I can't speak for them, but I would love to see them out here.”

Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement he was “outraged by the unjust arrest” of Baraka.

“Mayor Baraka is an exemplary public servant who has always stood up for our most vulnerable neighbors,” he said in a statement. “I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.”

The arrest alarmed other pro-immigrant activists who were in attendance.

“If they can do this to a mayor that has a profile as large as Mayor Baraka, what are they going to do to people protesting at Tesla stores?” said Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.

Other Democratic candidates running for governor condemned the arrest. Rep. Mikie Sherrill called it an "absolute outrage," while Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City, said it was "a dangerous precedent — and it demands condemnation in the strongest possible terms." Rep. Josh Gottheimer said Baraka should be “released immediately” and called Delaney Hall “an environment ripe with mistreatment and abuse.”

Meanwhile, Republicans attacked Baraka. Bob Hugin, the state Republican Party chair, warned that Baraka would be a governor “who puts political theater ahead of public safety and the rule of law.” The GOP gubernatorial hopefuls also went after him, with former radio host Bill Spadea saying that he “should be embarrassed by his behavior” and former Assemblymember Jack Ciattarelli calling Baraka “shameful.”

“In Newark, the airport is in the midst of an unprecedented & dangerous meltdown, the public schools are failing students & families, and there is crime in the streets every day,” Ciattarelli wrote. “And yet its Mayor and leading Democrat candidate for Governor … is busy shilling for illegal Immigrants at an ICE detention center with a cheap publicity stunt.”

Madison Fernandez and Daniel Han contributed to this report.