Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, has been arrested for trespassing at an 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,” U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba announced. “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.”
ICE entered into a 15-year contract with government service provider GEO Group to use Delaney Hall, the name of the facility and location of Baraka’s arrest, amid an increase in immigration enforcement efforts.
Then-acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello said upon announcing the agency’s use of the 1,000-bed facility, “This detention center is the first to open under the new administration. The location near an international airport streamlines logistics, and helps facilitate the timely processing of individuals in our custody as we pursue President Trump’s mandate to arrest, detain and remove illegal aliens from our communities.”
Executive Chairman of GEO Group, George Zoley, said of its February contract award with ICE, “Our company-owned Delaney Hall Facility will play an important role in providing needed detention bedspace and support services for ICE in the Northeast. We are continuing to prepare for what we believe is an unprecedented opportunity to help the federal government meet its expanded immigration enforcement priorities.”
“We are taking several important steps to meet this opportunity, including making a previously announced $70 million investment in capital expenditures to strengthen our capabilities to deliver expanded detention capacity, secure transportation, and electronic monitoring and related services to ICE and the federal government,” said Zoley.
Democratic Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman claimed the facility “opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances.”
