Newark Grand Ras Baraka was arrested on Friday May 9 in a federal immigration detention center. Baraka had protested the opening of the installation this week. The arrest has sparked many reactions on social networks and political commentators.

Baraka adopted the fight with the Trump administration on illegal immigration. He aggressively pushed the construction and opening of the detention center for 1,000 beds. He maintains that it should not open due to construction permit problems. In the meantime, Linda BarakaThe mayor’s wife accused the federal government of targeting her husband.

“They did not stop anyone else. They did not ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example of the mayor,” she said, adding that she had not been authorized to see him.

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Witnesses describe the arrest of the mayor Ras Baraka

A video of the incident showed that Baraka had been arrested after returning to the public side of the establishment’s door. Witnesses said the arrest intervened after Baraka had tried to enter the installation with three members of the New Jersey Congress Delegation. They understand Representations Robert Menendez, Lamonica McIiver, And Bonnie Watson Coleman.

According to Viri Martinez, an activist from the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, a stormy argument broke out when federal officials blocked the mayor’s entrance. The argument continued even after the return of Baraka on the public side of the doors.

“There were howls and thrusts,” said Martinez. “Then the police invaded Baraka. They threw one of the organizers on the ground. They put Baraka handcuffed and put it in an unmarked car. ”

Video obtained by the Associated Press Shows a federal official in a jacket of internal security surveys telling Baraka that he could not participate in a visit to the establishment. He would have said, “You are not a member of the Congress.” Baraka then left the secure area, joining the demonstrators on the public side of the door.

A man in costume said through the door, “They talk about coming back to stop you.” Baraka replied, “I am not on their property. They cannot go out in the street and stop me. ” A few minutes later, several ice agents, some carrying facials, surrounded it as well as others on the public side. While the demonstrators shouted, “shame”, the agents brought the mayor Ras Baraka through the handcuffed security door.

After the arrest, a crowd had gathered to protest outside the Newark building where the officials held Baraka. Many shouted, “Let the mayor leave!”

React to the Ministry of Internal Security, the legislator closes the agency’s declaration

In a statement, the Ministry of Internal Security said that the legislators had not requested a visit from the Newark installation. Instead, the demonstrators and the legislators would have “stormed the door and burst into the detention center” while a bus transporting prisoners entered. However, Homeland Security did not answer questions about the reasons why only Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested.

Meanwhile, Watson Coleman’s spokesperson Ned Cooper said the legislators had passed unexpectedly in the establishment in the early afternoon because they planned to inspect him. It was not their plan to make a planned visit.

“They arrived, explained to the guards and officials of the establishment that they were there to exercise their supervisory authority,” he said, adding that they were authorized to enter and inspect the center between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Watson herself said that the DHS declaration explains in an inaccurate way what happened during the visit.

“Unlike a press release published by the DHS, we did not” storm “the detention center,” she wrote. “The author of this press release was not so familiar with the facts on the grounds that they did not even count the number of representatives present. We exercised our legal surveillance function as we did at the Elizabeth detention center without incident.”

DHS said in his declaration that the installation had appropriate permits and that the inspections had been erased. Delaney Hall, a two -story building next to a county prison, once operated like a transitional house.

In February, Ice awarded a 15 -year contract to the Geo Group to manage the Newark detention center. GEO estimated the contract at $ 1 billion, an unusually long and important agreement for ice. The announcement was one of President Donald Trump’s plans to increase the national detention beds this year. CEO David Donahue said the installation started the admission process on May 1.

The acting prosecutor of New Jersey reacts to the mayor’s arrest

Alin Habba is the American acting prosecutor of New Jersey. Habba declared on the social platform X that Baraka had committed an intrusion and ignored the warnings of the internal security personnel to leave Delaney Hall, a detention center led by the private operator Geo Group. Habba said Baraka had “chosen not to take into account the law” and confirmed that he had been placed in police custody. “No one is above the law”, She added.

Newark mayor, Ras Baraka, has committed an intrusion and ignored several warnings of internal security surveys to withdraw from the Ice detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon. He readily chose not to take into account the law. It won’t stay in there …

– Alina Habba (@Alanhahabba) May 9, 2025

The staff of the Associated Press Jake Offenhartz, Claudia Lauer and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.