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."

Ras Baraka was arrested Friday while protesting the reopening of an immigrant detention center. The arrest was publicly defended by interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba.