NJ mayor held for trespassing after ‘ignoring warnings’ to stay away from migrant detention center

A New Jersey mayor was dramatically arrested after ‘ignoring’ warnings to stay away from a detention center allegedly being used to illegally house migrants.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was detained Friday for ‘trespassing’ at the ICE facility, according to Alina Habba, the U.S. attorney for the state.

Habba said the politician ‘ignored multiple warnings’ to leave by Homeland Security Investigations officers.

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Detained: Mayor Ras Baraka is seen being escorted away by federal agents on Friday

‘Trespassing’: Newark Mayor Baraka speaks to protesters outside of Delaney Hall

Dramatic footage showed frantic people scrambling outside the gates of the facility, before Baraka was arrested and escorted away by police. 

Officers were seen shoving protesters out of the way amid the chaos. 

Rep LaMonica McIver – who was at the facility – claimed she and her colleagues were assaulted by ICE officers.

Habba said of Baraka: ‘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.’

Governor Phil Murphy said he was ‘outraged’ by the arrest and called for the ‘immediate’ release of Baraka, who was freed a few hours later.

The mayor claims the detention center has been illegally housing migrants amid Trump’s mass deportation push.

The mayor claimed the jail has a contract with the city that precludes the housing of migrants.

Last week he attempted to break in, vowing to turn up daily until he was let in.

A spokesperson for the company which operates the facility confirmed to DailyMail.com that migrants have been housed at the facility for a week. 

‘Delaney Hall houses illegal aliens. It is not a family detention facility, nor does it house minors,’ a spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

But the building’s owners, GEO Group, did not receive permits or a valid certificate of occupancy to house 1,000 migrants a day, The New York Times reported.

A GEO Group employee had chained the front gates shut on Monday and fire officials gave them three citations for code violations, the Times said.

‘They’re keeping us out through the gates and the fences and all this other kind of stuff, but we’re going to come down here every day and we’re going to get in one way or the other,’ Baraka told the Times.

‘We want them to follow our rules, follow our laws.’

GEO Group accepted a 15-year $1billion contract with ICE in February, agreeing to hold migrants while they wait for deportation.

Delaney Hall has previously been used as a jail, halfway house, and migrant detention center and is located near the Newark Airport, making it easy to ship migrants back to their native countries.

The building has not been used in over a year and with the renovations on top of it, the City of Newark claimed the occupancy certificate would be invalid, the Times reported.

GEO Group spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, told The Times that Baraka is ‘more than welcome to enter the facility as long as he follows security protocols like everyone else.’

Protesters: Baraka claimed the jail has a contract that bars the housing of migrants

‘Publicity stunt’: The elected official was arrested for trespassing

‘He keeps refusing to do so, presumably in an effort to stage press opportunities to help him in his bid for governor,’ the spokesperson said.

Another spokesperson, Christopher Ferreira, told the Times Baraka’s action was a ‘publicity stunt.’

He said it was an ‘unfortunate example of a politicized campaign by sanctuary city and open-borders politicians in New Jersey to interfere with the federal government’s efforts to arrest, detain and deport dangerous criminal illegal aliens in accordance with established federal law.’

DailyMail.com has contacted the mayor’s office for comment.