Newark Mayor Ras Baraka set to appear in court on charge of trespassing at immigration facility

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is set to appear in federal court Thursday for a status conference on the Trump administration’s charge he trespassed at an immigration detention center in the city last week.

Baraka, a Democrat running for governor in the June 10 primary, will be at the procedural hearing, his office said. U.S. Magistrate Judge André Espinosa set the conference after he agreed to a motion from interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, who requested to cancel a preliminary hearing in light of court rules that don’t require such hearings for “petty offenses.”

The trespassing charge against Baraka has a statutory maximum sentence of 30 days in prison. The mayor has denied the charge.

Witnesses said the arrest last week came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday decried the “spectacle” at the detention facility, calling it a “new low for congressional Democrats.” He said Republicans are having conversations about possible disciplinary action, including censuring the three Democrats or removing them from House committees.

Messages seeking comment Wednesday were left with the members of Congress who were there.

Baraka, an outspoken opponent of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and a vocal opponent of the facility’s opening, returned to the center Tuesday, but left without incident.

It was not immediately clear how Baraka’s appearance at the gates Tuesday differed from Friday when he was arrested.

He has denied being on the detention facility’s property, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group.

In video of the Friday altercation shared with The Associated Press, a federal official in a jacket with the Homeland Security Investigations logo can be heard telling Baraka he could not enter the facility because “you are not a Congress member.”

Baraka then left the secure area, rejoining protesters on the public side of the gate. Video showed him speaking through the gate to a man in a suit, who said: “They’re talking about coming back to arrest you.”

“I’m not on their property. They can’t come out on the street and arrest me,” Baraka replied.

Minutes later, several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side. Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs.

Delaney Hall is a two-story building next to a county prison and formerly operated as a halfway house. In February, ICE awarded a 15-year contract to The Geo Group Inc. to run the detention center. Geo valued the contract at $1 billion in an unusually long and large agreement for ICE.

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Associated Press writer Leah Askarinam in Washington contributed to this report.