Newark mayor sues New Jersey's top federal prosecutor after arrest at
immigration detention site
[June 04, 2025]
By MIKE CATALINI
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued New Jersey's top
federal prosecutor on Tuesday over his arrest on a trespassing charge at
a federal immigration detention facility, saying the Trump-appointed
attorney had pursued the case out of political spite.
Baraka, who leads New Jersey's biggest city, is a candidate in a crowded
primary field for the Democratic nomination for governor next Tuesday.
The lawsuit against interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba
coincided with the day early in-person voting began.
The lawsuit seeks damages for “false arrest and malicious prosecution,”
and also accuses Habba of defamation for comments she made about his
case, which was later dropped.
Citing a post on X in which Habba said Baraka “committed trespass,” the
lawsuit says Habba issued a “defamatory statement” and authorized his
“false arrest” despite “clear evidence that Mayor Baraka had not
committed the petty offense of ‘defiant trespass.’” The suit also names
Ricky Patel, the Homeland Security Investigations agent in charge in
Newark. Baraka's attorney, Nancy Erika Smith, said they also expect to
sue President Donald Trump's administration but are required to wait six
months.
“This is not about revenge,” Baraka said during a news conference.
“Ultimately, I think this is about them taking accountability for what
has happened to me.”
Emails seeking comment were left Tuesday with Habba’s office and the
Homeland Security Department, where Patel works.
Videos capture chaos outside the detention center
The episode outside the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention
center has had dramatic fallout. It began on May 9 when Baraka tried to
join three Democratic members of Congress — Rob Menendez, LaMonica
McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman — who went to the facility for an
oversight tour, something authorized under federal law. Baraka, an
outspoken critic of Trump's immigration crackdown and the detention
center, was denied entry.
Video from the event showed him walking from the facility side of the
fence to the street side, where other people had been protesting.
Uniformed officials then came to arrest him. As they did, people could
be heard urging the group to protect the mayor. The video shows a crowd
forming and pushing as officials led off a handcuffed Baraka.
He was initially charged with trespass, but Habba dropped that charge
last month and charged McIver with two counts of assaulting officers
stemming from her role in the skirmish at the facility's gate.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa rebuked Habba’s office after moving
to dismiss the charges. “The hasty arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka,
followed swiftly by the dismissal of these trespassing charges a mere 13
days later, suggests a worrisome misstep by your Office,” he wrote.
McIver decried the charges and signaled she plans to fight them. A
preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month.
Baraka said the aftermath of the withdrawn charge meant he had to
explain it in the media and argue his case when he had done nothing
wrong.
“I want somebody to apologize, write a letter, say this was wrong, come
out and say, ‘We shouldn’t have done this,’” he said.
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Newark Mayor Ras Baraka speaks next to civil rights attorney Nancy
Erika Smith, right, as they attend a press conference regarding his
May 9th arrest at Delaney Hall, outside U.S. District Court for the
District of New Jersey Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP
Photo/Kena Betancur)
New Jersey targeted over its so-called sanctuary policies
Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility, opened earlier this year as a
federal immigration detention facility. Florida-based Geo Group
Inc., which owns and operates the property, was awarded a 15-year
contract valued at $1 billion in February. The announcement was part
of the president’s plans to sharply increase detention beds
nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year.
Baraka sued Geo soon after that deal was announced.
Then, on May 23, the Trump Justice Department filed a suit against
Newark and three other New Jersey cities over their so-called
sanctuary policies. There is no legal definition for sanctuary city
policies, but they generally limit cooperation by local law
enforcement with federal immigration officers.
New Jersey's attorney general has a statewide directive in place
prohibiting local police from collaborating in federal civil
immigration matters. The policies are aimed at barring cooperation
on civil enforcement matters, not at blocking cooperation on
criminal matters. They specifically carve out exceptions for when
Immigration and Customs Enforcement supplies police with a judicial
criminal warrant. The Justice Department said, though, the cities
won’t notify ICE when they’ve made criminal arrests, according to
the suit.
It's unclear whether Baraka's role in these fights with the White
House is affecting his campaign for governor. He's one of six
candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in the June 10 election
to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
On Tuesday, Baraka explained the timing of the suit as an effort to
get the case before the court before it was too late. He described
the arrest and fallout as a distraction during the campaign.
“But I also think that us not responding is consent,” he said.
In a video ad in the election's final weeks, Baraka has embraced a
theme his rivals are also pushing: affordability. He says he'll cut
taxes. While some of the images show him standing in front of what
appears to be Delaney Hall, he doesn't mention immigration or the
arrest specifically, saying: “I’ll keep Trump out of your homes and
out of your lives.”
Trump has endorsed Jack Ciattarelli, one of several Republicans
running in the gubernatorial primary. Ciattarelli has said if he's
elected, his first executive order would be to end any sanctuary
policies for immigrants in the country illegally.
___
Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington
contributed to this report.
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