Newark mayor arrested at ICE facility while joining Democrats to conduct 'oversight'

Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested on Friday while joining members of Congress at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, according to interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba.

Baraka, who is one of six candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in New Jersey's primary next month, "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon. ... He has been taken into custody," Habba claimed on X.

No federal charges have been filed.

A spokesperson for Baraka's 2025 gubernatorial campaign confirmed in a statement that Baraka "was arrested and detained by ICE."

"We are actively monitoring and will provide more details as they become available," the spokesperson said.

Baraka and three members of the congressional delegation for New Jersey -- Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Robert Menendez Jr. -- had gone to the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility to conduct oversight, according to Watson Coleman and McIver.

However, according to activists and the members of the congressional delegation, who spoke after Baraka's arrest, Menendez, McIver and Watson Coleman were permitted to be on the facility property while Baraka was not and was told he had to go outside the gate.

"We've heard stories of what it's like in other ICE prisons. We're exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves," Watson Coleman wrote in a post on Friday.

"As congressional members, we have the power to conduct oversight," McIver wrote. "That's what we're here to do."

Habba alleged in a phone interview on Fox News Friday afternoon that Baraka was inside the facility and had been warned multiple times that he would be arrested but refused to leave. He was then placed under arrest when he left the facility, Habba said.

"When you break the law, there's no grandstanding that will help you. Period, the end," she added.

Speaking to reporters outside the detention facility Friday evening, the three Democratic members of Congress who were with Baraka described the moment he was arrested.

"They went off of the property onto the public property and arrested the mayor. ... They have not told any of us why," Watson Coleman said. "They just snatched him and took him, and we tried to get them to answer, why are you locking him up? And they started kind of roughing us up."

Menendez said, "Over 20 armed ICE officers with the entire brass from the Newark office" walked past them toward the gate where Baraka was.

"It was clearly intended to intimidate not just the mayor, but the three of us and everyone watching today," he said.

A defiant McIver told reporters, "We're going to keep fighting. This is not going to stop us from fighting and doing our job that over thousands of New Jerseyans elected us to do. We were simply doing our job, and it has nothing to do with politics."

The city of Newark had alleged the Delaney Hall detention facility was opened without proper safety protocols.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a press release on Friday that the Delaney Hall, which is a privately operated facility with which ICE contracts to hold migrants, has proper permitting and said immigrants lacking legal status to be in the United States who have committed violent crimes are being held there.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy criticized Baraka's arrest in a statement Friday afternoon.

"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," he wrote.

Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed without providing details that the elected officials were trying to "storm" the 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," she said in a statement.

Watson Coleman also disputed the department's characterization of their visit: "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," she wrote in a statement.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who served as the mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013, said the incident "is disturbing, unnecessary and indicative of tactics that are undermining the safety and security of our communities, not adding to it. Law enforcement officers should have deescalated this situation. Mayor Baraka should be immediately released."

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said in a statement, "Arresting public officials for peacefully protesting violates the most basic principles of our democracy. 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."

He added that to his office's knowledge, no state or local officers were involved with the arrest.

"Like those gathered today to protest outside of Delaney Hall, my office has remained steadfast in our defense of the state law prohibiting private immigration detention centers in our communities. We defended that law before a federal appeals court last week, and we will continue to stand up for the civil rights of our residents," Platkin wrote.

New Jersey Republican Party Chairman Bob Hugin, however, criticized Baraka and called his actions a "stunt."

"Mayor Ras Baraka's arrest after trespassing at a federal ICE facility and ignoring repeated warnings from Homeland Security is unprofessional, reckless, and dangerous. He's not just a mayor -- he's running for Governor, and this stunt shows exactly what kind of leader he'd be: one who puts political theater ahead of public safety and the rule of law," Hugin wrote.