In a bizarre example of wokeness gone awry, a group of dozens of progressive clergy members protested outside of an ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, saying that they would stay put until they were arrested as an act of solidarity.
For context, the protest, which took place on Monday, May 12, 2025, was reportedly a response to President Trump’s deportation policies and the recent arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at the same detention center, Delaney Hall, several days earlier.
Following his arrest on May 9, 2025, Mayor Baraka reportedly denied the narrative that he was detained by ICE agents, saying, “I’m shocked by all the lies that were told here,” and adding, “No one else arrested, I was invited in then they arrested me on the sidewalk.”
Just days after Baraka’s arrest, the group of about 50 clergy members gathered outside of Delaney Hall to protest in a demonstration that was reportedly organized by the groups Faith in N.J. and Faith in Action. According to their website, Faith in N.J. is “working together to advance an immigration, racial, economic, and social justice agenda at the local, state, and federal level.”
In response to the controversy surrounding the demonstration, one protester told Fox, “There was no danger there,” adding, “We’re not going to be moved. We’ll be here as long as it takes until people start to realize this is not acceptable.” In addition, other protesters reportedly claimed that they “volunteered” to be arrested on the scene.
On the other hand, ICE and DHS dismissed the protest as ridiculous, with Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin reportedly saying, “Who do they want released from Delaney Hall? The child rapists, murderers, drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members or known terrorists?” She added, “This was a cheap political stunt by the Democrats and by these protesters.”
Continuing, Assistant Secretary McLaughlin decried the protest and its negative impact on essential personnel, saying, “We’re not having it. They put law enforcement officers at risk. They put our staff in the facility at risk and put the detainees at risk. You saw that they didn’t even let an ambulance through.” She added, “This is not something that this administration is going to put up with. And that’s part of the reason that this mayor was arrested. You can’t just storm a detention facility and assault law enforcement officers with impunity.”
Responding to the statements from Assistant Secretary McLaughlin, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, who was reportedly removed from Delaney Hall property after protesting, told CNN, “Chaos ensued when someone on the phone above the leaders of ICE who were with us at that facility instructed them to go out of the facility, go to the private property and lock the mayor of the largest city in the state of New Jersey up,”
Continuing, Rep. Watson Coleman was fiercely critical of ICE’s response to the protests, saying, “That’s absurd. That’s un-American. That’s scary. That’s determination to intimidate people in this country.” The Democrat representative concluded by accusing the Trump Administration of “lying at all levels.”
Watch a clip of the protest:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video