Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has been released from custody by federal officials, capping off an extraordinary day that saw the mayor of New Jersey’s largest city be arrested outside the gates of a Newark immigration detention facility called Delaney Hall.
According to a spokesperson for the mayor, Baraka was ordered to be released by U.S. Magistrate Judge André Espinosa at around 7:30 p.m., after Baraka had been held in custody at a federal facility in Newark for over four hours.
Speaking with supporters who had gathered to demand his release, Baraka said that he remains convinced of the righteousness of his actions – in defiance of the Trump administration, which has labeled him a trespasser and lawbreaker.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Baraka said. “We know that we’re right. The power of our demand is that what we ask for is correct… We’re asking to obey our laws, to obey the policies and rules here in this city and the state of New Jersey, and not to run roughshod over the Constitution of the United States.”
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for May 15; Baraka has been charged with trespassing based on a complaint from Ricky Patel, the Newark chief of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s Homeland Security Investigations, a law enforcement agency within the DHS. The case is being prosecuted by Desiree Grace, the second-in-command of New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney’s office.
The day’s extraordinary proceedings began when Baraka, a political progressive and one of the Democrats currently running for governor of New Jersey, arrived at Delaney Hall alongside Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City), and LaMonica McIver (D-Newark) this afternoon for an oversight visit.
The 1,000-bed, privately owned detention facility, the largest immigrant detention facility in New Jersey, has been a lightning rod for Democratic criticism since President Donald Trump took office in January. Newark’s government has alleged in court that the facility didn’t get the proper permits before allowing the government to begin holding immigrant detainees on May 1, and Baraka paid a visit to the facility earlier this week but was rebuffed.
During today’s visit, the three Democratic representatives were allowed inside the facility, but Baraka – who does not have the same oversight prerogatives as members of Congress – was turned away. Baraka returned to the facility’s gate, only for immigration officials to follow him and arrest him there, prompting a near-brawl involving officers, the three representatives, and protestors who had gathered at the gate. (Politico NJ’s Ry Rivard, who was there for much of the fracas in person, has a detailed timeline.)
“It was an act of intimidation not just to the mayor, not just to us, but to everyone who is watching,” Menendez said of Baraka’s arrest. “They feel no weight of the law. They feel no restraint on what they should be doing. And that was shown in broad daylight today.”
Trump administration officials, however, had a very different account of what occurred. Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said that Baraka “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself,” while the Homeland Security Department alleged that Baraka and the three representatives had all “stormed” the facility’s gates, an extraordinary charge that Watson Coleman strongly denied.
“In a bizarre political stunt, as a bus of detainees entered the security gate of Delaney Hall Detention Center, a group of protestors, including 2 members of US Congress, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “This illegal breaking and entering of a detention facility puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk.”
Regardless, the ultimate result was that Baraka was led away from the scuffle in handcuffs, though no other arrests were made. Baraka was quickly shuttled to a U.S. Customs office a few miles away, with Menendez, McIver, Watson Coleman, and other supporters following him there.
Baraka’s arrest and detainment quickly made national news; cable news programs aired segments through the evening on his arrest and on Delaney Hall, which prior to tonight had largely been a local concern for New Jersey and New York news outlets. Given that the Democratic primary for governor is in just a month’s time, there’s also an inescapable political angle to the attention the mayor is receiving.
Baraka has received overwhelming backup from fellow Democrats in New Jersey, including from those running against him for governor; New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller said that he intends to make his own visit to Delaney Hall tomorrow morning.
By the time of his release this evening, the crowd demanding his release had expanded to include Rep. Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), a number of journalists, and an enormous crowd of local supporters. But he had a plea for them: go home peacefully.
“I don’t want anybody else to get hurt or arrested out here,” he said. “So I’m going to ask us all to leave, to clear the space out completely… I’m out. I’m out. I’m going home.”
At that, the crowd cheered.
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