Outrage mounts after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka arrested at ICE facility

🔴 Feds accuse lawmakers of 'storming' detention facility

🔴 Democratic leaders strongly condemn Newark mayor's arrest

🔴 GOP gubernatorial candidates react to news

UPDATE: Baraka emerges defiant after ICE arrest

NEWARK — Mayor Ras Baraka was handcuffed and arrested Friday afternoon at the Delaney Hall detention facility used by ICE, drawing condemnation from the state's top Democrats.

The Democratic mayor and candidate for governor has been critical of the newly opened for-profit facility over what he says is a lack of municipal permits by private prison operator GEO Group.

He has shown up at the facility gates daily this week and tried to join a congressional delegation on a scheduled visit on Friday.

Feds accuse lawmakers of 'storming' facility

Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba said that Baraka trespassed after ignoring multiple warnings to leave.

"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," Habba wrote on X.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the elected officials "holed up" in a guard shack before they "stormed the gate."

“Members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond a bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk," ,” McLaughlin said in a statement that included details of five detainees arrested in recent weeks. 

"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."

SEE ALSO: Who's at facility that Newark mayor was protesting?

DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared.

One of the congress members at the event, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J. 12th District, refuted McLaughlin's statement.

“At around 1 p.m. today, my colleagues Rep. Lamonica McIver and Rep. Rob Menendez Jr. and I arrived at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark to exercise our oversight authority as Members of Congress," Watson Coleman said in a written statement.

“Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not 'storm' the detention center. 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.

“Reopening Delaney Hall won’t make us safer and it won’t create an immigration system that is fair and secure for all families.

“Private Prison companies like GEO Group create a perverse incentive to increase incarceration to increase corporate profits. It’s no accident that GEO Group was the first corporation to max out donations to Trump’s Super PAC, to the tune of $500,000 dollars. And they’re being rewarded with huge contracts to imprison immigrants like we’re seeing here at Delaney.

When federal officials blocked Baraka's 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.

“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.”

'I'm not on their property'

In video of the altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the logo of the Homeland Security Investigations can be heard telling Baraka he could not join a tour of the facility because “you are not a congress member.”

Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: “They’re talking about coming back to arrest you.”

“I’m not on their property. They can’t come out on the street and arrest me,” Baraka replied.

Minutes later several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. As protesters cried out, “Shame,” Baraka was dragged back through the security gate in handcuffs.

“The ICE personnel came out aggressively to arrest him and grab him,” said Julie Moreno, a New Jersey state captain of American Families United. “It didn’t make any sense why they chose that moment to grab him while he was outside the gates.”

Murphy and and other Dems condemn arrest

Gov. Phil Murphy issued a statement on his X account saying he was "outraged by the unjust arrest."

"I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement," Murphy said.

Attorney General Matt Platkin said no state or municipal law enforcement were involved in the arrest.

"Arresting public officials for peacefully protesting violates the most basic principles of our democracy," Platkin said in a written statement.

"The arrest of Mayor Baraka earlier this afternoon outside Delaney Hall in Newark is deeply troubling. People peacefully exercising their right to free speech and assembly should never be targeted for opposing the government’s policies.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who served as mayor of New Jersey's largest city before Baraka, said the arrest is "disturbing, unnecessary and indicative of tactics that are undermining the safety and security of our communities."

"As mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka has a responsibility to ensure that facilities operating in the city are adhering to laws that protect the safety and wellbeing of occupants and residents," Booker said.

U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., called the arrest "shocking."

"I called ICE leadership who relayed that the mayor was arrested for trespassing," Kim said. "However, video clearly shows the mayor outside the gates of Delaney Hall facility when he was arrested. I’ve reached out to DHS Secretary directly and am in touch with the members of Congress who conducted the oversight inspection."

Several of Baraka's opponents in the June 10 primary issued statements demanding his release.

"The scene outside of Delaney Hall today and the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is an absolute outrage. He needs to be released immediately," U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J. 11th District, said.

“The Trump administration’s decision to reopen Delaney Hall, a private, for-profit prison to detain immigrants won’t make New Jerseyans safer, and it won’t fix our broken immigration system.”

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, also running for governor, also issued a statement calling the arrest "wrong."

"Regardless of your views on ICE, the law is the law — and any facility operating in a New Jersey municipality must follow it. If Delaney Hall doesn’t have proper local authorization, Mayor Baraka had every reason to be there, and every right to demand accountability," Fulop said.

"Instead, ICE arrested him. Whether it’s disobeying the Supreme Court, flirting with a third term, or undermining due process, we’re watching lines get crossed in real time. This is a dangerous precedent — and it demands condemnation in the strongest possible terms."

On the Republican side, gubernatorial candidates Bill Spadea applauded the arrest while Jack Ciattarelli criticized the mayor for engaging in a publicity stunt.

This is a breaking story. Check back for additional details.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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