Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (AP photo/Mike Catalini)
"In the initial inspection, we found some violations. Some of them weren't grave violations, but they were, in fact, violations. Violations that put first responders at risk, violations that put detainees or workers that are there at risk," the mayor continued.
Possible violations listed later in the press conference by lawyer Kenyatta K. Stewart included unsanitary kitchens, lack of emergency exits and lack of proper ventilation.
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Stewart and Baraka expressed concern about the possibility of children being detained in the building. The mayor said it violates the law to refuse access to fire inspectors, health inspectors and uniform code of construction inspectors.
GEO Group contends they are using an old certificate of occupancy from 2007, but Baraka says it’s invalid.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (Tanya Breen/USA TODAY NETWORK)
"The attempt by local and state officials to stop the opening of a lawful federal immigration processing center at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark is another unfortunate example of a politicized campaign by sanctuary city and open borders politicians in New Jersey to interfere with the federal government’s efforts to arrest, detain, and deport dangerous criminal illegal aliens in accordance with established federal law," a spokesperson for the group told Fox News Digital in a statement last month.
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"These politically motivated tactics threaten both public safety and the local economy and are based on bogus claims about the Delaney Hall facility, which previously operated as a federal immigration processing center for six years under President Obama’s administration, without opposition from local political leaders," the statement continued.
Baraka, who is running for governor of the Garden State, denied politicizing the issue.
"The reality is, this is not a Republican or a Democratic issue, in my mind. It's an issue of human rights. It's an issue of due process. It's the issue of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States," he said.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/newark-mayor-takes-fight-gates-ice-detention-center-amid-legal-battle-over-alleged-safety-violations