Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested on Friday whereas becoming a member of members of Congress at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention heart, based on interim U.S. Legal professional for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba.
Baraka “dedicated trespass and ignored a number of warnings from Homeland Safety Investigations to take away himself from the ICE detention heart in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon. … He has been taken into custody,” Habba claimed on X.
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark confronts ICE brokers at an illustration exterior an immigrant detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey Might 7, 2025.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
No federal costs have been filed but.
A spokesperson for Baraka’s 2025 gubernatorial marketing campaign confirmed in a press release, individually, that Baraka “was arrested and detained by ICE…
“We’re actively monitoring and can present extra particulars as they turn into out there,” the spokesperson mentioned.
Baraka and three members of the Congressional delegation for New Jersey – Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez, Jr. – had gone to the Delaney Corridor immigration detention facility to conduct oversight, based on Watson Coleman and McIver.
The elected officers have been protesting exterior of the power for the previous couple of days.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka joins protesters exterior of Delaney Corridor, a lately re-opened immigration detention heart, in Newark, N.J., Might 7, 2025.
Seth Wenig/AP
“We’ve heard tales of what it’s like in different ICE prisons. We’re exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves,” Watson Coleman wrote in a put up on Friday.
McIver wrote, “As congressional members, we now have the ability to conduct oversight. That’s what we’re right here to do.”
Habba, alleged in a telephone interview on Fox Information on Friday afternoon, Baraka was inside the power, warned a number of occasions that he could be arrested, and refused to depart. He was then positioned beneath arrest when he left the power, Habba instructed Fox Information.
White Home Presidential Counselor Alina Habba delivers remarks earlier than being sworn in because the interim U.S. Legal professional for New Jersey within the Oval Workplace on the White Home, March 28, 2025.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures
“Once you break the regulation, there isn’t any grandstanding that can assist you. Interval, the top,” she instructed the community.
Town of Newark had alleged that the Delaney Corridor detention facility was opened with out correct security protocols.
The Division of Homeland Safety mentioned in a press launch Friday that the power, which is a privately-operated facility that ICE contracts with to carry migrants, has correct allowing, and mentioned that undocumented immigrants who’ve dedicated violent crimes are being held there.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, in a press release Friday afternoon, criticized Baraka’s arrest.
“Mayor Baraka is an exemplary public servant who has all the time stood up for our most weak neighbors. I’m calling for his quick launch by federal regulation enforcement,” he wrote.
Assistant Secretary Dept. of Homeland Safety Tricia McLaughlin alleged with out particulars that the elected have been attempting to “storm” the power.
“Members of Congress storming right into a detention facility goes past a weird political stunt and places the security of our regulation enforcement brokers and detainees in danger,” McLaughlin mentioned in a press release.
This can be a creating story. Please verify again for updates.
