The state’s US Attorney Alina Habba on Friday confirmed Baraka’s arrest, saying he “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon.

American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey Executive Director Amol Sinha, in a statement sent to Newsweek via email on Friday: "The arrest of Mayor Ras Baraka by the Department of Homeland Security is a shameful escalation of the Trump administration's intimidation campaign against officials who refuse to do their bidding."