Newark Mayor Arrested at Detention Center After Trying to Verify It’s Not a Hellhole

NEWARK — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday after committing the unspeakable crime of wondering whether a federal immigration detention center might, in fact, be an absolute hellhole.

Baraka had joined three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation outside the newly opened Delaney Hall facility—a privately run, billion-dollar contract for ICE—to conduct an unannounced inspection. After being blocked from entering, Baraka stepped back onto the public side of the gate to speak with protesters, where federal agents promptly swarmed him and arrested him anyway.

“They say I ignored warnings to leave,” Baraka told supporters after his release. “I was standing on the sidewalk. Unless the sidewalk is now ICE property, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

DHS defended the arrest, claiming Baraka and others had “stormed” the facility, despite video showing them standing in front of a fence. Civil rights groups called the incident “a message in handcuffs,” warning that oversight of detention conditions is quickly becoming a punishable offense.

“We encourage elected officials to visit,” said one ICE spokesperson, “just not to ask questions, look around, or imply we should treat immigrants like people.”