Newark Mayor Reflects on Arrest Outside ICE Facility: ‘They Obviously Targeted Me’

Newark Mayor Reflects on Arrest Outside ICE Facility: ‘They Obviously Targeted Me’

by Filip Timotija 

05/10/25 11:38 AM ET

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) on Friday reflected on being arrested outside of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility earlier in the day, arguing he was being targeted after visiting the New Jersey detention center with three Democratic members of Congress. 

“Nothing happened for a long, long time, you know, for at least over an hour. And then, you know, after that, they finally told us to leave, and I told him I was leaving, they came outside the gate and arrested me,” Baraka said during his appearance on MSNBC’s “The Briefing” Friday night. “So it looked like it was targeted.”

He later added that ICE officials “obviously targeted me.” 

“I wasn’t the only one out there. They came directly to me and tried to arrest me … no one else. Me,” the mayor told host and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “And so, I honestly believe, you know, I was targeted there.”

Baraka, who is in the running for New Jersey’s upcoming gubernatorial race, made multiple appearances on major networks following his release from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) field office.

Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, justified the administration’s moves, claiming the mayor “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself” from the Delaney Hall ICE detention center. 

“He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody,” Habba wrote in a post on social platform X.

Baraka defended his presence at the facility, saying he was not there to protest, but to participate in a press conference with Garden State congressional delegation, including Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D), Rob Menendez (D) and LaMonica McIver (D). Watson Coleman said the trio was there to inspect the facility, not tour the place. 

Federal officials got into a back-and-forth with lawmakers and ended up arresting the mayor, who later appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Espinosa, according to court documents. 

DHS accused a group of protesters, along with Menendez and Watson Coleman, of storming “the gate” and breaking “into the detention facility.”

“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. Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on Friday. “Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility. This is an evolving situation.”

Watson Coleman accused the DHS of spreading false information about the Friday incident. 

“This scuffle, during which an ICE agent physically shoved me, occurred AFTER we had entered the Delaney Hall premises,” she wrote on X. “We entered the facility, came BACK OUT to speak to the Mayor, and then ICE agents began shoving us.”

“This is not how we entered the facility. We were escorted in by guards, because we have lawful oversight authority to be there,” the New Jersey Democrat added.

While in detention, Baraka said DHS officials were “very gracious, very respectful” toward him. 

“Treated me with respect and integrity. So, I have nothing but respect for those guys. But you know, it was still uncomfortable and, you know, humiliating situation for me,” he told MSNBC.

The mayor has railed against President Trump’s immigration crackdown and protested the opening of the ICE facility, contending that proper permits were not obtained in the process. 

ICE gave a multi-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to operate the detention facility. Baraka sued the security company last month, alleging that the corporation did not “give city officials access to conduct inspections required under municipal ordinances and state code,” therefore violating state and city law. 

The DHS has strongly pushed back against his accusations.

“The allegations made by Newark politicians that Delaney does not have the proper permitting are false,” DHS stated in a Friday press release. “We have valid permits, and inspections for plumbing and electricity, and fire codes have been cleared.”

The Trump administration said the detention facility houses violent migrants living in the country illegally, including those accused of being affiliated with the MS-13 gang and those with an INTERPOL Red Notice.

source https://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2025/05/newark-mayor-reflects-on-arrest-outside.html