Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has slammed claims he deserved to be arrested during a protest at an immigration detention centre, calling out Trump adviser Alina Habba for “getting it wrong.”
🚔 What Actually Happened at Delaney Hall?
Baraka was arrested on Friday while protesting the reopening of Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centre in Newark. Speaking on CNN’s The Source later that evening, Baraka pushed back against claims from Habba, New Jersey’s interim U.S. Attorney, that he had “ignored multiple warnings” to leave the site.
“She wasn’t there,” Baraka told host Kaitlan Collins. “I was there for over an hour, and nobody ever told me to move. Not a single person, not an officer from ICE, not any security guards. Someone from Homeland Security escalated the situation in the end, and that’s how we got here.”
📢 Baraka’s Wife Says It Was a Targeted Move
Baraka’s wife, Linda Baraka, has suggested the arrest was a deliberate attempt to undermine the mayor as he ramps up his campaign for governor.
Habba, a former personal attorney for Donald Trump, responded on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “The Mayor of Newark committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself… He has willingly chosen to disregard the law.”
🗣️ Baraka Fires Back – ‘Get Some Better Information’
Baraka insists he did nothing wrong. “I didn’t break any laws,” he said. “I was there as the mayor of the city, exercising my right and duty as an elected official, supporting our congresspeople, and preparing for a press conference.”
Addressing Habba’s comments directly, he added: “She wasn’t there, so she should get some better information.”
🔎 What’s the Real Issue Here?
Baraka says the protest was about holding the facility’s operators, The Geo Group, to account over an expired certificate of occupancy. “They haven’t had one in 20 years,” he claimed. “We say they need one because local law demands it. They dispute that, but the person who settles that is a judge in a court of law.”
