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Mayor Las Baraka, who was arrested for trespassing while protesting at a federal immigration facility last week, said Monday during a televised governor’s debate that his actions were an effective way to protest the president’s immigration closely.
Baraka denied that he did something wrong despite federal authorities arresting him for trespassing at Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark on Friday.
During Monday’s debate among New Jersey’s public governor’s Democratic candidates in the race, he doubled the allegations that he had done nothing wrong.
“We’re not interfering with federal law enforcement,” Baraka said early in the discussion when moderators changed questions to Friday’s incident at a Newark ice detention facility. “We didn’t go there to protest. We actually went there to have a press conference, and Congress is doing surveillance. And they started doing surveillance, which was escalated by homeland security.
Who is the Democratic governor candidate arrested for trespassing at the Ice Detention Center?
Baraka’s arrest occurred during a protest at Delaney Hall, attended by three members of the Congress. According to a Department of Homeland Security official, the three lawmakers were outside the facility, along with a group of protesters.
The arrest came as activists had been seeking access to the facility for several days. This is a privately operated facility that has been upgraded to immigration detention facilities this year.
“We don’t ask for anything wrong. We ask them to follow our laws,” Baraka said after the incident. “To follow the policies and regulations here in the city and New Jersey, please do not run roughly on the US Constitution, fourth, fifth, fifth, amendment, and everyone in this soil deserves a legitimate process.”
Mayor Newark speaks after being released from the HSI facility
Mayor Las Baraka, Newark, New Jersey, speaks during the main discussion of Democratic governors on May 12, 2025 (Steve Hockstein/NJ Advance Media, AP, Pool)
During discussions on Monday night, other governor candidates were asked if they thought Baraka’s tactics were just as “effective” as he did, and if they did things differently. Most of the time, all candidates are cutting edge around questions, but instead chose to promote their authenticity by supporting immigrants and the challenging Donald Trump, but some have expressed Baraka.
“I’m not saying I’m going to do something different,” said Rep. Miki Sheryl, a fourth-term Democrat who represents the state’s 11th Congressional District. “I don’t think the mayor is trespassing. He was invited to speak to my council colleagues.
New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottimer, left, and Newark Mayor Las Baraka will discuss the issue in the First Debate of the New Jersey Democratic Governor on May 12, 2025.
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“Russ did nothing wrong,” said Steve Influop, the mayor of Jersey City and another candidate for New Jersey governor, who responded directly to the moderator’s questions about whether he agreed to Baraka’s tactics.
The rest of the candidates did not directly answer the questions before the moderator proceeded to the next topic.
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