Newark mayor released after arrest at congressional visit to NJ ICE facility

The mayor of Newark was arrested Friday at an ICE detention facility in where congressional leaders had scheduled an afternoon "oversight" visit.

A spokesperson confirmed Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody by federal police outside Delaney Hall, a detention facility run by private prison operator GEO Group, in Newark.

Baraka was released shortly after 8 p.m. and, after stepping out of an SUV with flashing emergency lights, told waiting supporters: “The reality is this: I didn't do anything wrong.”

The mayor said he could not speak about his case, citing a promise he made to lawyers and the judge. But he voiced full-throated support for everyone living in his community, immigrants included.

“All of us here, every last one of us, I don’t care what background you come from, what nationality, what language you speak,” Baraka said, “at some point we have to stop these people from causing division between us.”

Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, said Baraka "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center."

"He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody," a .

Baraka had visited the facility in recent days amid efforts to close the recently reopened prison. The mayor has made public claims that the detention center is not operating legally.

Witnesses describe a heated argument

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.

"We’re at Delaney Hall, an ICE prison in Newark that opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances," Rep. Coleman .

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.

“The agents started intimidating and putting their hands on the congresswomen. There was yelling and pushing,” Martinez said. “Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.”

In a statement, The Department of Homeland Security said that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of the facility, contrary to witnesses' accounts. The department said further that as a bus carrying detainees was entering the facility, “a group of protestors, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.”

Homeland Security did not respond to questions about why only the mayor was arrested.

Watson Coleman spokesperson Ned Cooper said the lamakers went to the facility early in the afternoon unannounced because their plan was to inspect it, not to take a scheduled tour.

“They arrived, explained to the guards and the officials at the facility that they were there to exercise their oversight authority,” he said, adding that they were allowed to enter and inspect the center sometime between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

DHS, in its statement issued after Baraka's arrest, said Menendez, Watson Coleman and a number of protesters were currently “holed up in a guard shack” at the facility.

“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,” McLaughlin said.

Watson Coleman, who left and was at a Homeland Security Investigations holding facility where Baraka was said to have been taken, said the DHS statement inaccurately characterized the visit.

“Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not ‘storm’ the detention center,” she wrote. “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.”

Gov. Phil Murphy said he was "outraged" by Baraka's "unjust arrest."

"Mayor Baraka is an exemplary public servant who has always stood up for our most vulnerable neighbors. I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement," Murphy said Friday.

Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration.

He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.

The detention center

The two-story building next to a county prison formerly operated as a halfway house.

Then in February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the Newark detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion, which is an unusually long and large agreement for ICE.

The announcement was part of President Donald Trump’s plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year.

Baraka sued GEO Group soon after the deal was announced.

Geo touted the contract with Delaney Hall during its earnings call with shareholders Wednesday, with CEO David Donahue saying it was expected to generate more than $60 million a year in revenue. He said the facility began the intake process May 1.

Hall said the activation of facility and another in Michigan would increase total capacity under contract with ICE from around 20,000 beds to around 23,000.

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