Newark mayor on his arrest at ICE detention center: ‘I was targeted’

NEWARK, N.J. (PIX11) – A week after his arrest at an ICE facility, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said after a court appearance Thursday he was “targeted” by President Donald Trump's administration. 

The mayor was arrested on May 9 for allegedly trespassing at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center in Newark, and released later that night.

Speaking outside the hearing, Baraka said his case is about the constitutional right to due process. 

“We believe that I was targeted in this. I was the only person arrested,” Baraka said. “I was the only person they put in a cell.”

The mayor said he was taken to the basement of the courthouse on Thursday for a new mugshot and fingerprints at his hearing.

“They’re trying their best to humiliate and demean and degrade me,” Baraka said outside the courthouse. “I still feel like what we did was completely correct. We did not violate any laws.”

Baraka is accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to leave the facility, according to Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey. Baraka noted that other elected officials were detained, but he was the only one arrested. 

The mayor has denied trespassing. On Wednesday, he released new videos of the moments before his arrest, which purportedly show someone inside the facility letting him through a gate, then letting him back out.

Delaney Hall is a two-story building next to a county prison in Newark Bay that operated as a halfway house in previous years. In February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that it and the GEO Group reached a $1 billion, 15-year deal for the detention center.

Democrats, including Baraka, have opposed the opening of the facility. As mayor, Baraka sued to block the opening of the detention center, saying it hadn't completed all building requirements.

This story comprises reporting from the Associated Press.