By Andrew Goudsward and Steve Gorman
(Reuters) -The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, a Democrat who is running for governor, was arrested on Friday on a charge of trespassing at a privately run federal immigration detention center 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 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, told Reuters 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 social media outlet X that Baraka "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings" to leave the ICE facility, known as Delaney Hall.
Appearing later on Fox News, Habba also accused Baraka of "grandstanding."
Baraka, who was held at a nearby ICE field office after his arrest, was later charged with a single count of trespassing, according to a criminal complaint filed by Habba’s office.
The mayor was released at about 8 p.m., after some seven hours in custody. In remarks to a crowd of supporters after he was freed, Baraka said he "didn’t do anything wrong" and had gone to Delaney Hall "to support my Congress people." He urged the crowd to disperse peacefully.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE, said members of Congress were part of a group of demonstrators who tried to force their way into the facility when a bus of detainees arrived.
“These members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Cooper said Watson Coleman, McIver and Menendez paid an unannounced visit to the detention center "exercising their oversight roles as members of Congress," and that ICE was obligated to grant them admission.
Allegations that lawmakers stormed the facility are "factually not true," Cooper said, adding that Baraka remained outside the fence around the grounds to the facility, where he "has been continually showing up" in recent days.
Cooper said the lawmakers were not part of or coordinated with a separate protest that was taking place at the facility, and had not coordinated their visit with the mayor.
PHYSICAL ALTERCATION
According to Cooper’s account, the lawmakers were escorted through the gate but were initially denied entry to Delaney Hall itself. After speaking with guards, they noticed a crowd converging around the mayor, and a physical altercation ensued that led to his arrest.
The lawmakers ultimately were admitted to the building and left about three hours after their arrival, Cooper said.
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.
DHS denied the facility lacked proper permits and highlighted cases of alleged gang members and criminals being held there.
"Delaney Hall operated as a federal immigration processing center for six years under President Obama’s administration, without opposition from local political leaders," GEO Group said in a statement. It added that the facility has "created hundreds of unionized jobs" and is expected to contribute $50 million to the local economy.