NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday at an federal immigration detention middle the place he was protesting its opening, a federal prosecutor stated.
Alina Habba, interim U.S. lawyer for New Jersey, stated on the social platform X that Baraka dedicated trespass and ignored warnings from Homeland Safety personnel to depart Delaney Corridor, a detention facility run by non-public jail operator GEO Group.
The mayor has been protesting the opening of the power all through this week, saying its operators didn’t get correct permits.
In her social media put up, Habba stated Baraka had “chosen to disregard the law.” She added that he was taken into custody.
Witnesses stated the arrest got here after Baraka tried to hitch a scheduled tour of the power with three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.
When federal officers blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, based on Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the general public facet of the gates.
“The agents started intimidating and putting their hands on the congresswomen. There was yelling and pushing,” Martinez stated. “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.”
An e mail and cellphone message left with the mayor’s communications workplace weren’t instantly answered Friday afternoon.
Baraka, a Democrat who’s working to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has embraced the struggle with the Trump administration over unlawful immigration.
He has aggressively pushed again towards the development and opening of the 1,000-bed detention middle, arguing that it shouldn’t be allowed to open due to constructing allow points.
The 2-story constructing subsequent to a county jail operated as a midway home earlier than a February announcement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that it and the GEO Group reached a $1 billion, 15-year deal for a detention middle there.
Baraka sued GEO Group quickly after the deal was introduced.
