Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) was arrested for allegedly criminally trespassing at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in New Jersey.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba revealed in a post on X that Baraka was taken into custody after trespassing at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center and ignoring “multiple warnings” from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to remove himself from the property.
“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,” Habba said. “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.”
Baraka’s arrest came after he joined several Democrats, such as Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), to “conduct federal oversight of” Delaney Hall.
Baraka’s office revealed that he had been taken to an “ICE field office” in Newark, according to PIX11 News.
Per the outlet, witnesses claimed that Baraka was arrested after allegedly attempting to “join a scheduled tour of the facility with three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation.”
Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join a scheduled tour of the facility with three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.
When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates.
In a statement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin noted that Members of Congress “are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities.” McLaughlin added that if the Members of Congress had requested a tour, the DHS would have “facilitated a tour of the facility.”
“Members of Congress storming into a detention center goes beyond a bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk,” McLaughlin 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.”
