Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday (May 9) at a federal immigration detention center. Baraka had been protesting the facility’s opening this week. The arrest has sparked many reactions on social media and from political commentators.
Baraka has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration. He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center. He argues that it should not open because of building permit issues. Meanwhile, Linda Baraka, the mayor’s wife, accused the federal government of targeting her husband.
“They didn’t arrest anyone else. They didn’t ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor,” she said, adding that she had not been allowed to see him.
Witnesses Describe The Arrest Of Mayor Ras Baraka
Video of the incident showed that Baraka was arrested after returning to the public side of the facility’s gate. Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to enter the facility with three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation. They include Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.
According to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, a heated argument broke out when federal officials blocked the mayor’s entry. The argument 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 in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.”
Video obtained by the Associated Press shows a federal official in a Homeland Security Investigations jacket telling Baraka he could not join a tour of the facility. He reportedly said, “You are not a congress member.” Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate.
A man in a suit said through the gate, “They’re talking about coming back to arrest you.” Baraka replied, “I’m not on their property. They can’t come out on the street and arrest me.” Minutes later, several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, “Shame,” the agents dragged Mayor Ras Baraka back through the security gate in handcuffs.
After the arrest, a crowd had gathered to protest outside the Newark building where officials were holding Baraka. Many were shouting, “Let the mayor go!”
Department Of Homeland Security Reacts, Lawmaker Shuts Down Agency’s Statement
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the lawmakers had not requested a tour of the Newark facility. Instead, protestors and the lawmakers had allegedly “stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility” as a bus carrying detainees was entering. Still, Homeland Security did not answer questions about why only Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested.
Meanwhile, Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper said the lawmakers went unannounced to the facility early in the afternoon because they planned to inspect it. It was not their plan to take a scheduled tour.
“They arrived, explained to the guards and the officials at the facility that they were there to exercise their oversight authority,” he said, adding that they were allowed to enter and inspect the center sometime between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Watson herself said the DHS statement inaccurately explains what happened during the visit.
“Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not ‘storm’ the detention center,” she wrote. “The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didn’t even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident.”
DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and that inspections have been cleared. Delaney Hall, a two-story building next to a county prison, formerly operated as a halfway house.
In February, ICE awarded The Geo Group Inc. a 15-year contract to run the Newark detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, an unusually long and large agreement for ICE. The announcement was part of President Donald Trump’s plans to increase detention beds nationwide this year. CEO David Donahue said the facility began the intake process May 1.
New Jersey Interim District Attorney Reacts To Mayor’s Arrest
Alina Habba is the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey. Habba said on the social platform X that Baraka committed trespass and ignored warnings from Homeland Security personnel to leave Delaney Hall, a detention facility run by private prison operator Geo Group. Habba said Baraka had “chosen to disregard the law” and confirmed he was taken into custody. “No one is above the law,” she added.
Associated Press staff Jake Offenhartz, Claudia Lauer, and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.
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