A group of House Democrats from New Jersey and the mayor of Newark clashed with law enforcement on Friday at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the city.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D.), a New Jersey gubernatorial candidate, was arrested after a dispute with federal agents at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center. Footage obtained by Axios showed the lawmakers clashing with agents at the same time Baraka’s arrest took place at the ICE facility.
“The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon,” said acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, an adviser to President Donald Trump.
“He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”
Baraka sought to enter the facility to examine whether it is violating municipal building, fire, and safety codes and to challenge President Trump’s agenda of mass deportations for illegal immigrants. The facility is operated by the GEO Group, a private prison company, and Baraka’s office is currently pursuing legal action against the firm.
The Department of Homeland Security said allegations that the facility lacks appropriate permitting are false and released details about a few of the violent criminals held in the facility, including an “active member” of El Salvador gang MS-13.
Meanwhile, two New Jersey Democrats, Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jr., joined with protesters to force their way into the ICE facility. Additional footage also appeared to show Representative LaMonica McIver, another Jersey Democrat, scuffling with law enforcement at the facility along with a mob of protesters.
“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 of the facility. This is an evolving situation,” said Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
“A mob (including 3 members of Congress) assaulting our ICE agents as they try to break into an ICE detention facility,” McLaughlin added in a separate post reacting to the footage.
The lawmakers eventually received a tour of the ICE facility to see it for themselves and evaluate its compliance with local ordinances.
“At around 1pm today, my colleagues @RepLaMonica @RepMenendez and I arrived at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark to exercise our oversight authority as Members of Congress,” Watson Coleman said in a statement addressing the dispute.
Watson Coleman criticized McLaughlin’s characterization of what transpired at the facility and said the lawmakers did not “storm” the ICE 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 added.
McIver later said Baraka complied with instructions to leave the facility because he is not a federal official, unlike the congressional lawmakers. Baraka was transported to another ICE facility in Newark, and charges have yet to be announced. Left-wing activists with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice subsequently went to the facility to protest outside and demand Baraka’s release.
Habba told Fox News’s Martha McCallum that Baraka walked away from the facility when he was informed that he was being arrested. Beforehand, Baraka was inside the facility and refused to leave despite several warnings, Habba said.
New Jersey Democrats including Governor Phil Murphy and some of Baraka’s primary opponents swiftly condemned the arrest and called for his immediate release.
“I am outraged by the unjust arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka earlier this afternoon outside of Delaney Hall in Newark,” Murphy said.
“I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.”