May 10, 2025

Contact: media@haitianbridge.org, info@haitianbridge.org 

San Diego, CA – Haitian Bridge Alliance is deeply concerned by the circumstances surrounding the arrest and brief detention of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during an attempted oversight visit to the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility. We are relieved to learn that the Mayor has since been released.

According to Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, “At around 1pm today, my colleagues Rep. Lamonica McIver and Rep. Rob Menendez, Jr. and I arrived at the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark to exercise our oversight authority as Members of Congress.” The reported mistreatment and obstruction of these elected officials—while fulfilling their constitutional duties—is unacceptable.

“If Members of Congress, acting within their legal authority, are denied access and subjected to aggressive and dismissive treatment by federal agencies, what hope is there for ordinary Americans—especially Black migrants, asylum seekers, and undocumented people—who lack the privilege and platform of public office?” said Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “This moment makes clear what we have long known: the most vulnerable are often the least protected in our systems, and that must change.”

This incident is not isolated. It reflects a troubling culture of impunity within immigration enforcement, particularly toward Black and Brown communities. Haitian Bridge Alliance has long called for transparency, oversight, and accountability in all immigration detention facilities, especially those with histories of abuse and civil rights violations.

We recognize Mayor Baraka’s longstanding commitment to immigrant rights, racial justice, and the protection of Newark’s most vulnerable. We urge all relevant agencies to conduct a full review of this incident and to reaffirm their duty to uphold the law, respect elected officials, and ensure that immigration policies are administered with fairness and humanity.

ABOUT HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies, foreign policy, and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and builds solidarity and collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”). Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn –  @haitianbridge