Trump administration officials announced the arrest of Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, for alleged trespass at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the city.
Baraka protested the opening of a new ICE detention center in Newark on Friday, claiming the operators did not acquire necessary permits, according to a report from WNJN-TV.
Alina Habba, Counselor to the President and interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, said that he was warned multiple times to leave the facility, known as Delaney Hall.
“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,” Habba wrote on social media platform X.
“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.”
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. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this…
— Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) May 9, 2025
Amanda Lee, a reporter for WNJN, added on X that Baraka was accompanying members of Congress for the visit to the facility.
She said that the lawmakers were “shoved after trying to include Baraka in conversations after he gained entry through the gate.”
Did Trump’s DHS make the right move here?
Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center after an argument with agents. Members of congress here for a scheduled visit, were shoved after trying to include Baraka in conversations after he gained entry through the gate.@news12nj #newark @News12NJ pic.twitter.com/6UDQWiIhQ7
— Amanda Lee (@amandaleetv) May 9, 2025
The arrest comes after other Trump administration officials warned that local and state officials seeking to obstruct federal immigration enforcement could be prosecuted.
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested last month for allegedly aiding an illegal alien with evading federal authorities.
FBI Director Kash Patel said of the case that “we believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest.”
The administration also arrested a former New Mexico judge and his wife for allegedly harboring an illegal alien and member of the Tren de Aragua gang in their home.
Border Czar Tom Homan previously warned that local and state officials are not permitted to resist ICE as they execute their lawful duties.
“Police commissioner of Boston, you said you’d double down on not helping the law enforcement officers of ICE, I’m coming to Boston and I’m bringing hell with me,” Homan said in February, per a report from Newsweek.
“I looked at the numbers this morning, I stopped counting at nine, nine child rapists that were in jail in Massachusetts but rather than honoring an ICE retainer, released back onto the street,” he continued.
“You’re not a police commissioner. Take that badge off your chest, put it in a desk drawer because you became a politician. You forgot what it’s like to be a cop,” Homan said.
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