Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued Interim U.S. Lawyer Alina Habba on Tuesday for wrongful arrest and defamation over his detention final month throughout a protest exterior an immigration jail within the New Jersey metropolis.
Baraka claims Habba improperly ordered his arrest and prosecution for allegedly trespassing at Delaney Corridor, a detention heart close to Newark Airport that has grow to be a lightning rod for opponents of President Trump’s widening crackdown on undocumented immigration.
The costs had been later withdrawn and a federal decide rebuked Habba, who was not too long ago appointed to the highly effective New Jersey publish by Trump, for her conduct. However Baraka says that’s not sufficient.
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark speaks to the press close to ICE brokers at an indication exterior an immigrant detention heart in Elizabeth, New Jersey Could 7, 2025. (Photograph by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)
Baraka, who’s operating for governor in a June 10 Democratic major, accuses the previous Trump private lawyer of “acting for political reasons and fulfilling her stated goal of ‘turning New Jersey red.’ ”
Early voting began throughout the Backyard State on Tuesday within the major pitting Baraka towards 5 different Democrats.
“I want somebody to apologize, write a letter, say this was wrong, come out and say, ‘We shouldn’t have done this,’ ” he stated.
Baraka’s swimsuit additionally accuses Habba of defamation, citing tv appearances through which she repeatedly claimed he had damaged the regulation, and stated he was “grandstanding” by protesting the privately run facility used to jail accused undocumented immigrants.
Habba didn’t instantly touch upon the swimsuit, which additionally named an investigator for the Division of Homeland Safety.
The Could 9 incident exterior Delaney Corridor unfolded when Baraka tried to hitch three Democratic members of Congress for an oversight tour, which is permitted beneath federal regulation. Baraka, an outspoken critic of Trump’s immigration crackdown and the detention heart, was denied entry.
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark walks previous Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers standing close to a gate to Delaney Corridor, a newly transformed immigrant detention centre, throughout a protest close to the ability in Elizabeth, New Jersey Could 7, 2025. (Photograph by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)
Baraka was initially charged with trespass, however Habba dropped that cost two weeks later. New Jersey Federal Justice of the Peace Choose Andre Espinosa rebuked Habba, saying her actions amounted to a “worrisome misstep,” and dismissed the legal case with prejudice.
One of many members of Congress current, Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), was later charged with felony counts of assaulting officers stemming from her position within the skirmish on the facility’s gate throughout the protest.
McIver decried the fees and signaled she plans to combat them. A preliminary listening to is scheduled later this month.
Initially Printed: June 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM EDT
