Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was released from custody Friday night following his arrest while protesting at a private detention facility that is expected to play a key role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.

Three Democratic House members, Rob Menendez, Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver, were also at the protest but were not arrested. Baraka, 55, who spent several hours in custody, addressed supporters outside the U.S. Department of Homeland Security office in Newark.

"The reality is this, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Baraka said.

Alina Habba, Trump’s appointee as interim U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, said Baraka "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself” from the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark.

"He has willingly chosen to disregard the law,” Habba said in a post on X. "That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody.”

The actions escalate a standoff between the Trump administration and Baraka over a 1,000-bed facility known as Delaney Hall, which operator GEO Group recently reopened. Baraka, who is running in the Democratic primary for New Jersey governor next month, has protested several times at the facility, and the city has sued the U.S. to block its use.

Baraka’s arrest marked a day of rising tensions at Delaney Hall. Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the mayor and the three lawmakers broke into the site without permission and warned that members of Congress "are not above the law.”

A spokesperson for Watson Coleman disputed that account, saying the lawmakers identified themselves to guards and were conducting a lawful oversight visit.

"The claim that they forced their way in or broke into this heavily guarded facility is a blatant lie,” according to spokesman Mike Shanahan.

Newark has sued to prevent GEO Group from operating the facility, arguing the company doesn’t have valid permits. On May 1, the company began housing detainees in Delaney Hall, near Newark Liberty International Airport, where the government could stage deportation flights.

Baraka has criticized GEO Group for refusing to allow city inspectors inside and has made his standoff with the company a focal point in his campaign for governor. He accused the company of profiting from Trump’s roundup of immigrants.

"It’s obvious what’s happening here,” Baraka said in an interview before his arrest. "They’re profiting from other people’s demise.”

Before the arrest, GEO Group’s spokesperson said Delaney Hall has a valid certificate of occupancy, complies with all "contracted health and safety requirements” and for years housed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees.

After the arrest, a company spokesman declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Habba didn’t respond to requests for comment. It wasn’t immediately clear what charges Baraka faces.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said he was "outraged by the unjust arrest” of Baraka, noting he has protested the facility for months with faith leaders and members of Congress.

"Mayor Baraka is an exemplary public servant who has always stood up for our most vulnerable neighbors,” Murphy said. "I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.”

Murphy signed a law in 2021 banning public and private facilities from signing contracts with ICE to house immigrant detainees. A federal judge has blocked that law, and New Jersey appealed.

Delaney Hall was a jail-turned-ICE-facility when GEO Group bought its owner, Community Education Centers, in 2017 for $360 million. With Trump back at the White House, that investment stands to pay off. In February, ICE awarded the company a 15-year contract to detain immigrants in the facility, a deal the company values at more than $1 billion.