Newark and its Democratic mayors are facing pushback after filing legal complaints against immigration and customs enforcement to reopen the building for deportation “without following appropriate building safety protocols.”
Mayor Ras Baraka said he was using the building's Delaney Hall to illegally process people in the country to oppose state and local laws, leading him to file a lawsuit in Essex County Superior Court at the end of March.
“The city has been informed that construction work is being carried out inside the building without the necessary permission,” the mayor said. “The Faculty of Engineering has imposed a suspension work order to halt all construction of the site today. Two ICE staff and the GEO Group Facilities Director on the site were aware of the violation.”
“In addition, ICE has failed to apply for a construction permit and is requesting ongoing certificates of occupancy, changes to the building's use,” he added. Delaney Hall has just under 1,200 beds, according to USA Today.
The Texan man who vowed to shoot and killed the ice agent said Noem should be in the “Grag.”
On March 16, 2025, Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem watches a vehicle scan while on a tour of San Isidro port in San Diego. (Alex Brandon/Pool via Reuters)
“The agreement between ICE and the GEO Group to use Delaney Hall with the intention of jailing and retaining immigrants who are scheduled to be deported will not replace the ordinances and procedures legislated by the city of Newark and the state of New Jersey,” Democrats continued. “As I have stated in the past, Delaney Hall cannot be legally opened without abide by the requirements. We do not tolerate federal attempts to ignore or avoid laws or laws that apply to everyone.”
The contractor who runs Geo Group's Delaney Hall said it was a political tactic and could “put work and community safety at risk.”
“The attempts by local and state officials to halt the opening of legal federal immigration processing centers at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark is another unfortunate example of politicians from Sanctuary City and New Jersey.
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Newark Mayor Las Baraka will speak after a Democratic governor's debate at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey on February 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Katarini)
“These politically motivated tactics pose a threat to both public safety and the local economy and are based on false claims about the Delaney Hall facility, which has been operating as a federal immigration processing center for six years under President Obama, without opposition from local political leaders,” the statement continued.
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Immigration and customs enforcement did not respond in time for public disclosure.
Baraka, who is running for governor, criticized the city's ice attack in January, and eight individuals were arrested.
“The problem with this is that none of these people were rapists, or murderers or criminals,” Baraka said at the time. “The problem with that is that the ice got in there without a warrant.”
“We don't want ice detention in Newark. What we're worried about is the erosion of the constitution,” he added.
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Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciatalelli was joined by his wife Melinda, who will speak at a press conference in Raritan, New Jersey on November 12, 2021. (AP)
New Jersey's state law on illegal immigration continues to cause pushbacks among Republicans as state police were instructed not to pay attention to warrants requested by the federal government for immigration enforcement purposes, according to an email obtained by the Jack Ciattarelli's governor's campaign and reviewed by Fox News Digital.
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“The fact that my campaign received this email is proof that a brave and brave law enforcement officer in New Jersey is angry at being handcuffed by Trenton's liberal Democratic policy and decreasing the safety of our community,” Republican Ciattarelli said in a statement.
Chris Pandolfo from Fox News contributed to this report.
