Newark mayor arrested at ICE facility

After being detained at a federal immigration detention center the Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, was released.

The mayor, a Democrat who is running for governor, was arrested while three U.S. lawmakers were on site for an unannounced inspection, officials said.

Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a scuffle at the gate to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark during the visit by three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation, according to a spokesperson for one of them, U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman.

The spokesperson, Ned Cooper, said that Coleman and her two fellow Democratic colleagues, Representatives LaMonica McIver and Robert Menendez Jr., were also "shoved around a bit" in the fracas, but no one was believed to have been hurt.

Alina Habba, a former lawyer to President Donald Trump serving as acting U.S. attorney, said on the social media outlet X that Baraka "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings" to leave the ICE facility, known as Delaney Hall.

Baraka is running for the Democratic nomination as New Jersey's governor in a competitive field. The primary is scheduled for next month.

Immigrant rights advocates allege that Delaney Hall, a 1,000-person detention center operated by the private prison company GEO Group, lacked proper city permits and opened despite opposition from the community and elected officials.

The United States Department of Homeland Security denied that the facility lacked proper permits and highlighted cases of alleged gang members and criminals being held there. GEO Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.