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Newark, N.J. – Mayor Ras Baraka’s police department was nowhere to be found as tensions rose late Wednesday outside the Delaney Hall illegal immigrant detention center. Protesters took over roles typically reserved for police, while ICE agents deployed pepper spray after a federal vehicle entered the premises and sparked chaos among the crowd.
Baraka, who lost the 2025 Democratic gubernatorial primary to Gov. Mikie Sherrill, had previously been arrested outside Delaney Hall during similar mayhem last year and has been defiant in demanding state and federal officials take action to close the facility.
As Fox News Digital returned to the scene late Wednesday, hundreds had already gathered outside the vehicle entrance to Delaney Hall’s sally port, while the other entrance — where Manhattan Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Daniel Goldman and Adriano Espaillat had legally gained entry — was lined with a protester medical tent and apparent commissary.
Doremus Avenue, a trash-strewn industrial boulevard, was reduced to one lane — though not by Newark Police or the Essex County Sheriff’s Office, but by protesters dressed as fire police.
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By 9PM ET, Doremus Avenue’s southbound lane had been completely blocked by protesters, as reflective-vest-wearing “protester police” directed two-way traffic that often included large vehicles such as big rigs and goosenecks.
A single Essex County Sheriff’s deputy drove by the area rather quickly at one point, announcing that protesters should move to the sidewalk, but he was gone in a matter of seconds.
Some protesters appeared to break off from the group and quietly collect trash along the east side of the avenue, where a line of freight tracks ran.
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As unmarked Delaney Hall transport vehicles approached from the south with flashing blue lights signaling they intended to enter the facility, protesters surged toward the entrance while others emerged from the direction of the freight tracks carrying several large items.
Some protesters called out to offer “goggles and tape; goggles and tape,” portending what came next.
Two mattresses, a shredded orange highway bollard, tree branches and a sandbag were pushed toward the entrance and tossed into the middle of Doremus Avenue as ICE agents could be heard demanding the crowd move back to no avail.
As an Irvington-bound New Jersey Transit bus approached, it was briefly stuck in the suddenly unmanaged traffic lane while agents released pepper spray, dividing the scene around the trapped bus.
Once the bus was able to pass, a tear gas or pepper spray canister could be heard “popping” as another wave of irritant filled the air.
All the while, not a single Newark Police Department vehicle appeared on scene to help quell the mayhem.
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Shortly thereafter, as Fox News Digital returned downtown, Newark Police cruisers and officers on foot lined streets near the Prudential Center as concertgoers exited the venue — far from the escalating confrontation outside Delaney Hall.
Baraka consolidated Newark’s police and emergency management apparatus under mayoral authority in 2015, forming an “Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security” that remains under his direct control, according to a source familiar with the department’s hierarchy.
“[This] merger enhances public safety by making the operations of these essential services more efficient and effective,” Baraka claimed in a statement on the city’s website.
Baraka did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the absence of Newark Police officers outside Delaney Hall.
In March, Baraka declared “sanctuary cities” like Newark to be the “new Thin Blue Line in America.”
Baraka’s comments at the time in a New Jersey Globe column appeared to foreshadow why his officers remained hands-off during the chaos at Delaney Hall.
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He said cities like Newark are “fighting to stop ICE to agents from violating the Constitution of our residents and ignoring local ordinances and law enforcement policies.”
Instead of offering his city’s assistance to help ICE quell such anarchy, he boasted of an executive order requiring all city employees to instead report ICE activity that “seems abusive, unconstitutional” or that appears to be outside Newark law enforcement policies.
“It also prohibits our police and other law enforcement personnel from cooperating in immigration enforcement activities without a warrant or judicial order.”
Fox News Digital also reached out to the police department and Essex County Sheriff Amir Jones’ office for comment on the balance of enforcement responsibilities between the two agencies.
While he did not respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry about the absence of his police force at the scene, Baraka released a lengthy statement criticizing the federal contractor operating Delaney Hall and calling on New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport to take legal action.
“For the past year, the City has been engaged in litigation with the GEO Group due to its failure to comply with municipal ordinances when it began operating Delaney Hall. Our concerns remain unresolved, as critical city agencies, including the Health Department, Fire Division, and Code Enforcement, have repeatedly been denied access to inspect the facility,” Baraka said.
Baraka said detainees “smuggled out” letters that speak of inferior conditions and lack of medical treatment.
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Nadler and Goldman said in a separate news conference outside Delaney Hall that inmates told them they were only offered Tylenol (acetaminophen) for any ailments.
Baraka said Davenport and Sherrill must “immediately investigate Delaney Hall.”
Sherrill appeared at the center on Tuesday – voicing similar objections.
“It is imperative that we take all necessary steps to uphold the rule of law, ensure accountability, and protect the dignity and rights of some of the most vulnerable individuals in our care,” Baraka said in his statement.
Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan and Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.
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