Newark mayor’s lawyers to seek dismissal of trespass charge, say arrest was targeted

By Karen Freifeld

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) -Lawyers for Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka said on Thursday they would file motions to dismiss a charge that he had trespassed at a privately run federal immigration detention center there last week.

Baraka, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor in a crowded field, faces a misdemeanor charge of trespassing at Delaney Hall, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail.

During the status conference in New Jersey federal court, the mayor’s counsel said they would seek dismissal on grounds that President Donald Trump’s Republican administration had selectively prosecuted the Democratic mayor. The lawyers also said the mayor was not subject to federal jurisdiction when arrested.

The defense plans to file the motions next month.

“We believe that the mayor himself was targeted here,” said Rahul Agarwal, one of three lawyers at the defense table.

He said videos support the position that Baraka did not commit a crime. “The mayor was invited into the facility on Friday,” Agarwal said, and was “outside the facility when he was ultimately handcuffed and detained.”

The arrest of Baraka, mayor of New Jersey’s largest city, is emblematic of the aggressive stance the Trump administration has taken against officials who resist its immigration crackdown.

According to the criminal complaint, Baraka unlawfully entered and remained in the Delaney Hall facility, run by GEO Group Inc under contract with the federal government.

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“We believe there’s clear evidence that the mayor was within the property,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Demanovich told U.S. Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa, who said a trial could take place in late July, without setting a specific date.

During the conference, the prosecutor conferred with Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, who sat in the well of the courtroom. Last week, Habba said on the X social media platform that Baraka had "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings" to leave the facility. "No one is above the law," she wrote in capital letters.

Also last week on Fox News, Habba accused Baraka of "grandstanding."

The hearing took place on the same day as a Wisconsin county judge was scheduled to appear in federal court on charges she had helped a migrant evade an immigration arrest in her courtroom.

In Newark, the judge asked the defense lawyer if the mayor was the only person arrested in the incident, which unfolded while three Democratic members of Congress were conducting an unannounced inspection of the center. “He was,” answered Agarwal.

A crowd of about 200 supporters rallied outside the courthouse after Thursday’s court session. Some protesters carried signs reading "Protect Immigrant Rights and Due Process" and "Close Delaney Hall."

Amol Sinha, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey, was among those outside court, and said Baraka’s arrest was egregious. "It is an intimidation tactic to bully those who won’t do the Trump administration’s bidding."

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Sinha noted that Trump has vowed to go after officials in sanctuary cities, such as Newark, where laws limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

The city of Newark sued GEO Group after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in February awarded a contract to the private prison company for the 1,000-bed immigration processing center, the largest on the U.S. East Coast.

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