Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested at Protest Outside ICE Detention Center

Federal officials arrested Ras J. Baraka, the mayor of Newark, on Friday while he and three members of Congress were outside a new immigration detention facility in the city that is expected to play a central role in President Trump’s mass deportation effort.

Mr. Baraka was taken to a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, where he was still being held hours after the arrest.

Alina Habba, a lawyer for Mr. Trump who is now New Jersey’s interim U.S. attorney, announced the arrest of Mr. Baraka in a social media post.

Ms. Habba said that Mr. Baraka, a Democrat who is running for governor, had “ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center.”

“He has willingly chosen to disregard the law,” she wrote.

But videos taken by protesters show Mr. Baraka being taken into custody in a public area outside the front entrance gates of the facility, which is known as Delaney Hall and is expected to hold up to 1,000 migrants at a time.

Three members of New Jersey’s Democratic congressional delegation — Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver — were at the building on Friday for what they said was an oversight visit, and were allowed to enter. Federal officials described the lawmakers’ presence as a “stunt.”

Mr. Baraka was not allowed to accompany them, but he was initially allowed past the front gate, according to a video taken by Viri Martinez, an immigration activist who witnessed the arrest.

“Congressmen are different, congresswomen are different,” a Homeland Security Investigations agent told the mayor, the video shows. The agent added: “That is the last warning. You will be placed under arrest.”

After leaving the facility, the members of Congress joined Mr. Baraka outside, according to aides for Ms. Watson Coleman and Ms. McIver.

Ms. McIver said that Mr. Baraka then went to a public area where other protesters were gathered. “He walked himself out,” she said.

Outside the gate, Mr. Menendez can be heard on video telling Mr. Baraka: “They’re talking about coming back to arrest you.”

“I’m not on their property,” the mayor replied. “They can’t come out on the street and arrest me.”

Mr. Baraka was taken into custody by a team of masked federal agents wearing military fatigues while outside the gates in a driveway swarming with protesters and reporters.

Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, called the episode a “bizarre political stunt” in a social media post. She said Ms. Watson Coleman and Mr. Menendez, along with “multiple protesters,” had “holed up in a guard shack.”

Ms. McLaughlin shared a video of the mayor’s arrest that she said showed a “mob” assaulting ICE agents outside the gates.

“This illegal breaking and entering of a detention facility puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk,” Ms. McLaughlin said, despite there being no clear evidence that the lawmakers had entered the building illegally.

Mr. Menendez said ICE agents had “put their hands on” Ms. Watson Coleman and Ms. McIver.

“They feel no restraint on what they should be doing, and that was shown in broad daylight today,” Mr. Menendez said at a news conference shortly after Mr. Baraka’s arrest.

Newark officials had argued for weeks in federal court that the center’s owner, GEO Group, was violating city laws because it had failed to obtain required permits or a valid certificate of occupancy.

On Tuesday, Mr. Baraka showed up at the facility with city inspectors at dawn seeking entry. He returned on Wednesday.

Federal officials and a spokesman for GEO Group, one of the country’s largest private prison companies, said the mayor had ignored established processes for requesting entry. They also said the facility has all the required permits.

“The mayor has been informed that he is more than welcome to enter the facility, as long as he follows security protocols like everyone else,” Ms. McLaughlin said on Tuesday after Mr. Baraka had been denied entry.

In February, the Trump administration entered into a 15-year, $1 billion contract with GEO Group to turn Delaney Hall into a large detention center as ICE rushed to expand its detention capacity nationwide to meet the president’s mass deportation goals.

Because the facility is close to major airports, it is expected to play a central role in the agency’s efforts to increase deportation flights from the Northeast. But the building, which received its first detainees last week, quickly drew opposition from Democrats and local activists. They argued that its location near immigrant hubs in New Jersey and New York City would help accelerate the administration’s deportation pipeline.

In a social media post, Ms. Watson Coleman, wrote that the facility had opened without permission from the city.

“We’ve heard stories of what it’s like in other ICE prisons,” she wrote. “We’re exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves.”

In an emailed statement, Ms. McLaughlin argued that the facility had proper permits and she provided a list of five immigrants she said were being detained at Delaney Hall and had been accused of serious crimes, including murder and drug trafficking.

Ms. McIver said Mr. Baraka had done nothing wrong before his arrest.

“What we see here is despicable, and we should all be angry,” she said.

Mr. Menendez described Mr. Baraka’s arrest as “an act of intimidation.”

Ms. Watson Coleman said she had been “manhandled” and she described the events as “an abuse of power.”

Other New Jersey Democrats used social media on Friday to criticize the ICE response. Gov. Philip D. Murphy described Mr. Baraka’s arrest as “unjust” and called for his immediate release in a statement.

“Mayor Baraka is an exemplary public servant who has always stood up for our most vulnerable neighbors,” Mr. Murphy wrote.

Senator Andy Kim described the arrest as “shocking” and said that he was in touch with ICE leaders and Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary. Senator Cory Booker wrote that ICE officers should have de-escalated what he called a “disturbing, unnecessary” confrontation.

Late Friday, about 200 people gathered in a steady rain outside the ICE office in Newark where Mr. Baraka had been taken.

“Let him out,” the crowd chanted, referring to the mayor, and “let them in,” referring to the three members of Congress.

Mark Bonamo and Taylor Robinson contributed reporting.