On Friday, May 9th, a week of vigils outside the newly reopened Delaney Hall culminated with the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, who joined three New Jersey Congress Members during an oversight visit of the facility. 

Shortly before his arrest, Baraka was allowed to enter through the exterior gates of the facility with the Congressional Delegation, and stepped back out after being asked to. Despite this, he was arrested by federal agents.

After Mayor Baraka was taken into DHS custody, NJAIJ and members of our coalition rallied advocates and community members outside of the holding center where Mayor Baraka was held. With hundreds of people in attendance, one thing was clear: none of us is safe until all of us are safe – and if ICE can brutally target a sitting Mayor, all of New Jersey’s immigrant communities are at risk. Though Mayor Baraka was released after several hours, New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced plans to continue the retaliative campaign against him.