As a group of New Jersey House Democrats and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka engaged in verbal altercation on Friday at a Newark Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) facility, tensions grew. The secret prison company GEO Group operated Delaney Hall, a detention facility, where the confrontation took place.
During a disagreement with staff members at the center, president Ras Baraka, who also supports a Democratic candidate for governor, was detained. Forbes obtained video footage of the encounter between the police and ICE agents at the time of Baraka’s arrest.
Alina Habba, a recent adviser to former president Donald Trump, claimed that” the governor of Newark, Ras Baraka, dedicated trespass and ignored numerous instructions from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey this day. He has made the decision to disregard the law. That won’t hold up in this position. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE ABOVE THE LAW.
Baraka had requested admittance to Delaney Hall to look into possible violations of Newark’s metropolitan codes relating to occupancy, building safety, and fire hazards. Additionally, he aimed to oppose the Trump administration’s emigration police practices. His company has now brought legal action against GEO Group for alleged local script violations.
In response to Baraka’s claims, the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS) denied there were any restrictions on access to the facility and made public details about several prisoners with violent criminal histories, including one who was described as an “active member” of the MS-13 gang from El Salvador.
When Democrat Representatives Robert Menendez Jr. and Bonnie Watson Coleman arrived at the scene and attempted to enter the center with protesters, the conflict grew. Official LaMonica McIver and law enforcement reportedly engaged in verbal altercation as the group attempted to obstruct entry, according to additional footage.
Members of Congress are not above the rules, and they are not permitted to enter detention facilities without permission. We may have facilitated a tour of the facility had these people requested a visit. According to DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin,” this is an evolving position.”
She later added in a separate statement that” a mob ( including 3 members of Congress ) assaulting our ICE agents as they attempt to break into an ICE detention facility.”
In the end, the lawmakers were given the opportunity to visit the hospital to check whether it complied with local ordinances following the incident.
” My associates @RepLaMonica @RepMenendez and I arrived at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark now around 1 p.m.,” Watson Coleman said in a statement.
She refrained from quoting McLaughlin’s account of the events, saying that the writer of that press release was thus untrained in the facts that they didn’t actually accurately count the number of Representatives present. We were carrying out our lawful monitoring duties without incident at the Elizabeth Detention Center.
Eventually, McIver made it clear that Baraka complied with the orders to leave and that he lacked the necessary authority to remain outside. Although no official claims had been made, he was transported to a different ICE facility in Newark.
Immediately following the arrest, protesters affiliated with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice gathered outside the hospital and demanded Baraka’s transfer.
Habba, who spoke with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, claimed that Baraka first refused to leave the building despite being told to do so numerous times. He finally left after being informed of his incarceration.
The arrest was denounced by New Jersey governor Phil Murphy and several of Baraka’s ally candidates for government.
Murphy reacted to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s unlawful imprisonment earlier this afternoon outside Delaney Hall in Newark, saying,” I am outraged.” ” I’m asking federal law enforcement to release him right away.
