Following his arrest on Tuesday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka expressed that the city will persist in its legal battle against the GEO Group, which manages immigration detention centers in New Jersey.
“I’m aware that some protests are being planned. If I think I should be there, I definitely will,” he stated. “This does not deter us from fighting the GEO Group in court.”
Baraka was taken into custody Tuesday morning after he participated in a protest alongside three members of Congress outside the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, referred to as Delaney Hall.
A homeland security agent arrested him, and he was held at a different location in Newark. After about five hours, he was released and charged with trespassing.
In the meantime, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, mentioned that “more arrests will come” after the protests at the facility on Saturday. This included the potential arrests of Congress members Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez, and Lamonica McKeeber who were present.
McLaughlin remarked that lawmakers “jeopardize law enforcement, which, in turn, jeopardizes detainees,” adding that the DHS possesses “body camera footage of some Congress members confronting ICE officers.”
Newark filed a lawsuit against the GEO Group after securing a 15-year, $1 billion contract for the ICE operations at Delaney Hall. They allege that the company renovated the facility without proper authorization and blocked city inspectors from accessing it.
GEO Group officials have denied these claims. They assert that the necessary permissions were secured and characterized Baraka’s arrest as a publicity stunt, especially noting his gubernatorial candidacy.
“The mayor was informed he could enter the facility provided he adhered to security guidelines like anyone else,” McLaughlin explained.
During the protest, Baraka collaborated with Coleman, Menendez, and McKeever, entering the facility as part of an oversight visit.
A video analyzed by the New York Times indicated that a Homeland Security agent stated Baraka would be barred from entering the facility like the Congress members or face arrest.
Baraka, present in the crowd, told Sharpton that he attempted to enter multiple times and was ultimately arrested outside the facility. He insists he “did nothing wrong.”
Baraka emphasized that the DHS “treats us like it’s a standard case.”
“I was placed in a cell, photographed, fingerprinted, and charged with federal trespassing,” he noted, mentioning that treatment by the police was “fairly good.”
He also stressed that the federal government fails to disclose information about detainees in their facilities.
“We have no idea what’s happening there. We don’t know who is inside. They do not permit inspections and do not comply with local regulations,” Baraka asserted. “They believe they are above the law.”
