The day after his dramatic arrest, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said an afternoon in jail won’t slow down his fight against a newly reopened migrant detention center in his city.
Baraka had shown up to Delaney Hall, as he has every other day this week, to demand entry to the migrant detention center, which he argues is operating illegally. After spending some time inside the gates of the facility, officers arrested Baraka, sparking a scuffle outside the fence and quickly drawing the nation’s attention to the East Ward of Newark.
Federal law enforcement charged Baraka with trespassing Friday afternoon, with interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba alleging he “ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself.” He was released Friday night after about five hours in custody, and has a preliminary court date set for May 15.
The mayor told reporters Saturday afternoon that the basis of his arrest is invalid and politically motivated. He said he was invited onto the property by GEO Group—the private-prison company that owns Delaney Hall and contracts with the federal government to house immigrant detainees—that he left when he was told to, and that he was not planning or expecting to be arrested.
“The congressman [Rob Menendez] came to the fence and said, ‘Hey, they’re talking about arresting you back here,’” Baraka told reporters. “I said, ‘Why? For what? I didn’t do anything. The guy told me to leave, I left.’”
The City of Newark is suing GEO Group, arguing the company doesn’t possess the needed permits and certificates to operate the facility. GEO Group officials have said the company retains a valid certificate of occupancy and accused the mayor of political grandstanding. The lawsuit is ongoing in federal court.
Federal immigration authorities in February signed a 15-year contract to use the 1,100-bed facility for about $60 million per year. The facility opened May 1, about a month ahead of initial estimates.
The mayor was joined by Reps. LaMonica McIver (D-Newark), Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) outside Delaney Hall on Friday. As federal officers approached Baraka to arrest him, a scuffle ensued between officers, the three representatives, and protesters who had gathered at the gate.
In a CNN interview, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security accused McIver, Menendez, and Watson Coleman of assaulting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and said the trio could face arrest. The DHS has also claimed that the three representatives “stormed” the facility, even though federal law protects the ability of members of Congress to inspect federal facilities like Delaney Hall.
A spokesperson for the 80-year-old Watson Coleman, however, said it was the law enforcement officers who assaulted members of Congress, not the other way around.
“We’ve reviewed the body cam footage shared by DHS which confirms what we’ve said from the beginning: ICE agents put their hands on Members of Congress and arrested the Mayor of Newark on public property,” the spokesperson said. “We’re honestly surprised they released this footage given that it so wholly contradicts their claims. Nobody was ‘body slammed,’ nobody ‘assaulted’ any agents, and this footage confirms that.”
Baraka, who was in the middle of the scuffle, said the members of Congress did nothing wrong.
“This is all fabrication, and they get on the media and they lie and lie and lie and lie,” Baraka told reporters Saturday afternoon.
The three members of Congress, who possess federal oversight privileges that city officials like Baraka do not, ultimately did receive a tour of the facility, which they said was generally clean and safe for those detained there. In an April inspection, city officials found several violations, though Baraka said none were “grave.”
Baraka, a Democratic candidate for governor, received messages of support from Democrats across the state, including from his five opponents in the ongoing primary race. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) and New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, two fellow gubernatorial candidates, paid a visit of their own to Delaney Hall on Saturday morning and denounced the mayor’s arrest.
“We are here as protectors of democracy,” Gottheimer said, per Politico NJ.
When asked his thoughts on his opponents’ messages of support, Baraka said with a smile, “I’m glad they’re making the most of this.”
The mayor said he was held in an interrogation room and said the officers at the facility where he was held treated him with dignity. Still, he said the experience was “humiliating.” A city spokesperson said federal law enforcement took Baraka’s mugshot and fingerprints.
Baraka said he will keep fighting the opening of Delaney Hall in court and in public, even as federal authorities threaten further arrests.
“This is authoritarianism,” he said. “There’s no other way to describe what’s happening in this country right now but authoritarianism.”
Joey Fox contributed reporting.
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