The immigration police state is not just coming for immigrants. It’s coming for local officials, including judges, who fail to fully cooperate, and for elected officials who show up at ICE facilities to protest its policies. That’s what they just did to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
The Guardian has the fullest report:
The mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, was arrested for alleged trespass at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in New Jersey on Friday and released after several hours. …
Linda Baraka, the mayor’s wife, accused the federal government of targeting her husband.
“They didn’t arrest anyone else. They didn’t ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor,” she said, adding that she had not been allowed to see him.
A crowd gathered to protest outside the building where Baraka was being held, with many chanting: “Let the mayor go!”
When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates. “There was yelling and pushing,” Martinez said. “Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.” …
The politicians have accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of reopening the detention facility, in contravention of local ordinances and without the necessary permits.
Baraka was there with three members of Congress who were asserting their right to access the facility as a form of legislative oversight. So ICE agents instead targeted Baraka in a clear attempt to intimidate local officials and set up federal immigration police as a law unto themselves.
