DHS Warns More Arrests Possible for NJ Lawmakers After ICE Protest

The Department of Homeland Security has escalated tensions with New Jersey lawmakers by suggesting that members of Congress could face arrest following a confrontation at a federal immigration detention facility that resulted in the detention of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. A DHS spokesperson indicated Saturday that criminal charges against the elected officials are “on the table” after what the agency described as an assault on federal officers during Friday’s chaotic incident.

“There will likely be more arrests coming,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said during a CNN interview Saturday morning, as reported by Gothamist. “We actually have body camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting these ICE enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer.”

Conflicting Accounts of Detention Center Incident

The confrontation occurred Friday when Democratic Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez, and LaMonica McIver arrived at the Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark to conduct what they described as a congressional oversight visit. The lawmakers were accompanied by Baraka, who has been a vocal opponent of the recently reopened detention center.

DHS officials claim the lawmakers and protesters “stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility” as a bus of detainees was entering, putting “the safety of law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk,” according to a statement released by the agency. McLaughlin further asserted that the members of Congress and protesters were “holed up in a guard shack” during the incident.

The congressional representatives have strongly disputed this characterization. “Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not ‘storm’ the detention center,” Watson Coleman wrote on social media. “The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didn’t even correctly count the number of Representatives present. We were exercising our legal oversight function as we have done at the Elizabeth Detention Center without incident.”

Lawmakers Claim They Were Assaulted by Officers

Far from assaulting federal agents, the lawmakers contend they were the ones who faced aggressive treatment. Video footage of the incident reviewed by multiple news outlets shows McIver and Watson Coleman in the middle of a crowd, being pushed and shoved by federal officers as tensions escalated outside the facility.

“We’ve reviewed the body cam footage shared by DHS, which confirms what we’ve said from the beginning: ICE agents put their hands on members of Congress and arrested the mayor of Newark on public property,” said Ned Cooper, a spokesperson for Watson Coleman’s office, in comments to The Washington Post. “It also proves that DHS has been lying about this incident — blatantly lying. Nobody was ‘body slammed,’ nobody ‘assaulted’ any agents, and this footage confirms that.”

In a Saturday morning interview on WNYC radio, Watson Coleman characterized McLaughlin as a “liar” for the accusations against the members of Congress, adding, “But lying is something this administration does. Lying and allowing people to abuse the rights of individuals and to deny due process and to be disrespectful of anyone they don’t like.”

Mayor’s Arrest Draws Widespread Condemnation

The arrest of Mayor Baraka has drawn sharp criticism from elected officials across New Jersey. He was charged with trespassing and held for approximately five hours before being released without bond following a brief appearance before Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa.

Upon his release Friday evening, Baraka told supporters, “The reality is this: I didn’t do anything wrong,” though he declined to discuss specifics of his case, citing promises made to his attorneys and the judge. The misdemeanor trespassing charge carries a maximum punishment of up to 30 days in prison and a $500 fine.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin condemned the arrest, stating that “arresting public officials for peacefully protesting violates the most basic principles of our democracy” and calling the incident “deeply troubling,” according to ABC News. Governor Phil Murphy expressed outrage over what he termed Baraka’s “unjust” arrest.

Congressional Authority for Facility Oversight

At the heart of the dispute is the question of whether members of Congress have the right to conduct unannounced inspections of federal detention facilities. The lawmakers maintain they have legal authority to conduct oversight without prior notification, a right they say they have exercised previously at other facilities without incident.

“As Members of Congress, we have a legal right to conduct oversight at any DHS facility without prior notice, as we have already done twice this year,” Menendez said in a statement. He characterized the federal response as “an act of intimidation” and said that “ICE brought to meet the mayor of Newark, over 20 armed individuals” to confront the elected officials.

DHS, however, has pushed back on this interpretation, with McLaughlin stating, “Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility.”

Controversy Over Detention Center Operations

The confrontation comes amid an ongoing dispute over the Delaney Hall facility itself. The 1,000-bed detention center, operated by private prison company GEO Group under a 15-year, $1 billion contract with ICE, began receiving detainees on May 1, despite opposition from local officials and immigrant rights advocates.

Baraka’s administration filed a lawsuit in late March seeking to block the opening of the facility, arguing that it lacked the proper permits and violated a state law signed by Governor Murphy four years ago banning private immigration detention centers in New Jersey. That law is currently being defended before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

GEO Group has dismissed the lawsuit as “politically motivated” and denied any wrongdoing, according to court documents. The company maintains that because it was contracted to provide support services, ICE has “exclusive control” over all access to secure portions of the facility.

Political Implications and Response

The incident has quickly taken on national political dimensions, with interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, a former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, announcing Baraka’s arrest on social media. Habba wrote that the mayor had “willingly chosen to disregard the law” and that “will not stand in this state.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a statement Friday night defending the lawmakers, stating that it was their “constitutional responsibility” to tour the facility and demanding that “any trumped-up charges against Mayor Baraka” be dropped. “Keep your hands off of Members of Congress,” Jeffries added.

In the wake of the incident, lawmakers and activists rallied outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan to protest what they called “ICE’s attacks on political dissidents.” The brewing confrontation between federal immigration authorities and elected officials appears likely to intensify as both sides maintain their positions.