Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is making a bid to stake out the progressive lane in the six-person race for the Democratic nomination for governor. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)
In a political landscape where public opinion on immigration has swung to the right and caused some Democrats to become jittery about seeming too soft on the issue, Mayor Ras Baraka is staying to the left of it as he seeks the Democratic nomination for governor in June.
Baraka has voiced support for an immigrant rights bill before the Legislature that some of his rivals have remained quiet on, vowed to engage in a legal fight with the Trump administration to halt the opening of a new immigrant jail in Newark, and offered a full-throated defense of the rights of immigrants facing potential deportation.
Baraka’s bid to stake out the progressive lane in the six-person Democratic race for governor was on display Tuesday when he appeared at a rally with more than 150 protestors to criticize the proposed opening of Delaney Hall, a facility near Essex County jail that a private prison firm wants to turn into a 1,000-bed immigrant detention center by this summer.
The mass deportation effort launched by the Trump administration is not just a problem for immigrants, Baraka said.
“Everybody who loves democracy and freedom and justice — this is everybody’s problem,” he said. “And the reality is, I don’t know if you can find anybody who cannot trace their roots back to immigrants in this country.”
After the rally, Baraka said the other Democrats running for governor should have been there with him, and suggested their pro-immigrant stances are just “talk.”
“I mean, it is a competition, so maybe they feel like coming here supports me,” he said. “I can’t speak for them, but I would love to see them out here.”
The other Democratic candidates in the gubernatorial race haven’t differentiated themselves on this issue in any aggressive way, said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for Politics, who said Baraka has taken a “high-risk, high-reward” stance on immigration that sets him apart from the pack.
While one of Baraka’s opponents, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, has been supportive of laws to help migrants, Baraka appears less afraid to espouse opinions on the campaign trail that may be unpopular, Rasmussen said.
“My guess is that voters who are motivated by this issue are going to more appreciate the bolder, throw-caution-to-the-wind strategy that Baraka is advocating,” he said. “He’s got something to gain, but also he’s risking it at the same time.”
He said Baraka’s “stark” stance on immigration could excite the Democratic base as they mull who should be their standard-bearer in November.
“The rest of the field has been very, very cautious — really trying to figure out the answer around the issue or be more calculating about it,” Rasmussen said. “I think that Baraka has said, ‘Nope, you’ve got to do what’s right. You’ve got to stand for what you believe in. I will handle the criticism. I will own it.’”
Carlos Castañeda, an organizer with immigrant-rights group Movimiento Cosecha, said he feels most of the Democrats running this year to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy have remained silent or been too ambiguous on immigration. Baraka’s rhetoric and actions are setting the expectations for what progressive voters want to see, Castañeda said.
“Baraka isn’t just talking about the immigrant detention center, but he’s also telling his party that he’s not going to remain submissive and silent like the rest of the Democratic Party is doing,” Castañeda said in an interview in Spanish.
Baraka’s rivals
Besides Baraka and Fulop, the other Democrats running for governor this year are Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Mikie Sherill, teachers union chief Sean Spiller, and ex-state Sen. Steve Sweeney. The primary is June 10.
Sherrill and Spiller have both said recently that they also oppose opening Delaney Hall as an immigrant jail. Sherrill in a social media post accused Trump of “treating our broken immigration system as a piggy bank for their corporate donors,” while Spiller told the New Jersey Monitor in a statement from his campaign that if elected governor he would “fight back against attempts by ICE to intimidate New Jerseyans and separate families.”
Fulop — who has also argued in favor of the proposed state immigrant rights bill, called the Immigrant Trust Act — told a group of voters in Montclair Monday that while he feels state officials should not be “inviting towards ICE” and opposes Trump’s immigration policy, he suggested anyone pushing to halt the opening of Delaney Hall is not being realistic.
“There’s limited ability of a state and local person to do that,” Fulop said.
Gottheimer and Sweeney have taken a different tack. Gottheimer signed a letter last year expressing opposition to the use of Delaney Hall as an immigrant jail. But he angered some immigrant advocates with his support for the federal Laken Riley Act, a law passed in January that expanded mandatory detention for undocumented citizens, including those accused of property crimes (Gottheimer was the only New Jersey Democrat to vote in favor of the bill).
Sweeney in February said that while he opposes ICE raids if agents have no search warrant, he believes undocumented immigrants who commit crimes should be deported. He also said he’d withdraw the attorney general’s 2018 Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials. Trump and his supporters have said these kinds of directives hamper ICE’s efforts to detain and deport criminals.
The New Jersey Immigrant Trust Act would codify the attorney general’s directive and limit where residents can be asked about their immigration status, which supporters say is crucial if the state wants to protect immigrants who fear deportation by the Trump administration. The bill has not received enough support in the Statehouse for a committee hearing, let alone a vote.
“We need to codify the law and make it so nobody asks anybody about their status, asking for their papers,” Baraka said Tuesday. “If they’re going to get health care or going to education or catching a taxi cab, nobody should ask them anything.”
Rasmussen said part of the reason why Baraka is motivated by this issue could be because he’s long represented marginalized voters and communities. Baraka has been mayor of Newark since 2014 and before that served on the city’s council and also served as a high school principal.
“I’m not going to sit here and say politics aren’t part of the consideration for him, but I think that what brings him to this issue is that he represents people who he feels are being hurt by these policies every day,” Rasmussen added.
Eye on November
One potential danger in Baraka’s strategy is alienating less progressive voters if he ends up winning his party’s nomination in June, according to Jeanette Hoffman, a GOP political strategist.
Hoffman, who said she’s not working with any of the Republicans running for their own party’s gubernatorial nod in June, said taking a forceful stand on immigration could make it harder for Baraka to win over voters with a more moderate stance on the issue.
“He’s going to face a harsh reality if he gets to the general election, because the majority of New Jerseyans support keeping our community safe and immigration reform and closing the border,” she added. “I’d say the majority of New Jerseyans support law enforcement and not criminal migrants.”
It’s common for politicians to shift one way to win their party’s nomination and then creep back to the center to win in November, but Rasmussen said he doesn’t think Baraka will be that kind of candidate.
“Authenticity is something that people have been really impressed by with his candidacy,” he said.
Still, some progressives are waiting to throw their support to Baraka. Castañeda said activists recognize there could be some “political opportunism” behind Baraka’s actions on the campaign trail, adding that he wants to see more proposals from the mayor besides his opposition to Delaney Hall.
“He’s reacting to that, but we need something more proactive. What are the proposals he’s putting on the table for the working immigrant community, which is one that receives the least funding or has been historically excluded?” Castañeda said.