Trespassing case against Newark mayor to be dropped, but congresswoman faces assault charge

A trespassing case brought against the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, will be dismissed, but one of three members of the US Congress present at the time of his arrest will be charged with assault, a federal prosecutor said on Monday.

The case being brought by US attorney Alina Habba, a former defence lawyer for President Donald Trump, stems from an incident earlier this month at a privately run federal immigration detention centre while the three US lawmakers were there for an unannounced inspection.

Mayor Ras Baraka, whose city is the most populous in New Jersey, was taken into custody by immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) agents in a scuffle at the gate of Delaney Hall, the ICE facility in Newark, on May 9.

Baraka, a Democrat running for New Jersey governor, was charged with trespassing, though he has insisted he was welcomed onto the grounds of the detention centre and departed peacefully when asked to leave. He said he was arrested outside the gate after he was outside the property.

He and other Democrats argued the mayor was targeted for arrest and prosecution by the Trump administration for political reasons.

“After extensive consideration, we have agreed to dismiss mayor Baraka's misdemeanour charge of trespass for the sake of moving forward,” Habba said on Monday.

However, she said LaMonica McIver, one of the three Democrats from New Jersey's congressional delegation who were visiting the facility at the time, would face charges.

Habba said McIver “assaulted, impeded and interfered with law enforcement. That conduct cannot be overlooked”. It was not immediately clear whether Habba intended to file the charge as a misdemeanour or felony.

In a separate statement, US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem cited video footage showing McIver was involved in a fracas with ICE agents at the time of Baraka's arrest.

Like Baraka, McIver said the charges against her were “purely political,” and “meant to criminalise and deter legislative oversight”.

McIver said on the day of the incident she and fellow lawmakers Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jnr went to the facility to conduct a surprise inspection.

The three lawmakers, McIver said, were caught in the scuffle surrounding Baraka's arrest when they noticed a crowd converging around the mayor near the gate and approached the scene.

McIver, Watson Coleman and Menendez have maintained they were visiting Delaney Hall to exercise their oversight authority as members of Congress to ensure detainees were being treated properly.

Baraka and immigrant rights advocates have alleged Delaney Hall, a 1,000-person detention centre operated by private prison company GEO Group, lacked proper city permits and opened despite opposition from community and elected officials.

Reuters