http://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2025/05/09/dem-congress-members-storm-new-jersey-ice-prison-n2656841
By Sarah Arnold
Townhall
May 9, 2025
Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on Friday while protesting outside an ICE detention facility—just as a group of Democrat members of Congress descended on the exact location for what they called an "oversight visit." The coordinated spectacle is being seen by many as a politically motivated attack on immigration enforcement. While law-abiding citizens expect security and order at the border, the Democrats appear more interested in grandstanding than supporting the rule of law.
Alina Habba, interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, confirmed that Baraka was arrested for trespassing after he refused to comply with multiple warnings from Homeland Security personnel to leave Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center operated by private contractor GEO Group. She said that the mayor had “chosen to disregard the law.”
Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) ~ 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. 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.
Baraka protested the facility's opening, claiming operators did not get proper permits. His arrest came after he attempted to join a scheduled tour of the facility with three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman—all Democrats.
The mayor wrote on X that GEO Group was "following the pattern of the president of the United States who believes that he can just do what he wants to do and obscure the laws, national and constitutional laws, and they think they can do the same thing in the state of New Jersey and in Newark."
A heated argument broke out when federal officials attempted to block Baraka from entering the facility. He was handcuffed and taken away in an unmarked vehicle.
Baraka, who is running for governor of New Jersey, has been a vocal opponent of the new 1,000-bed detention facility. He has challenged its construction over permit issues and even sued the private prison contractor GEO Group, which recently signed a $1 billion deal with ICE to operate the site.
Meanwhile, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Menendez, McIver, and Coleman stood outside the ICE facility with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus to enter. The lawmakers then rushed through the gates and past security, demanding they be allowed to conduct an "oversight visit” at a prison that holds MS-13 gang members and child rapists.
McIver claimed the ICE facility was lacking transparency, calling it “unacceptable,” and emphasized that the inmates deserve to be treated with dignity. Meanwhile, Coleman wrote on X that the prison and the city violated local ordinances.
"We’ve heard stories of what it’s like in other ICE prisons. We’re exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves,” Coleman wrote on X.
Fox News correspondent Chad Pergam criticized the Democrats, saying they have "officially lost their minds."
Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) ~ NRCC: The sky is blue, it's another day that ends in Y, and House Democrats have officially lost their minds.
Out of touch Democrat Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez, and LaMonica McIver led a far-left mob in storming a federal ICE facility and rushing the gates as a detainee bus of illegal immigrants pulled in.
This isn’t a protest. It’s lawless, reckless, and dangerous.
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