Newark Mayor Ras Baraka compares ICE agents to slave catchers, says black people 'was undocumented too'

A new video obtained by the New York Post shows Newark Mayor Ras Baraka comparing ICE agents to slave catchers in the 1800s after the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1950. Speaking to a crowd at an April event in support of his lagging gubernatorial campaign, Baraka said black people were "undocumented too."

"People are talking about how difficult it is to live in New Jersey. Well, it’s been difficult for us for a long time," Baraka said. "You know, for a very long time. And oh, and the attack on immigrants, they want to know why we can relate to that, because we was undocumented too." New Jersey abolished slavery in 1804 through a practice of gradual emancipation. The New Jersey legislature issued a proclamation in 2008 to apologize for slavery.

"I don't want y'all to be confused," he said, pointing out at the laughing crowd, "black folks, we was undocumented, we come from a long line of undocumented people. And if they knew you didn’t have your papers, you going back to the plantation. They have people chasing, catching you. It wasn’t called ICE then."

"We have a little relationship to that," he said. "We know what that means and what that feels like," he said. He grew up in Newark to parents Amiri and Amina Baraka, his father a celebrated poet and dramatist, his mother the co-founder of Sugar Hill Records. Ras Baraka was featured on the iconic album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998.

"In fact, the 14th Amendment exists because you was being chased, because you was undocumented, because your citizenship was in question," Baraka told the crowd.

To the Post, which obtained the video, Baraka said that it wasn't he who drew the connection between ICE and slavery, but the "Trump administration when it attacked birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment." He claimed during the April rally that the 14th Amendment was passed post-Civil War so "that everybody benefits, from all over the world."

The Trump administration argued before the Supreme Court that the amendment was entirely intended to provide legal status for the children of enslaved people born in the United States, to ensure that they had full legal rights of citizenship. Solicitor General John Sauer argued that these rights were not intended to be granted to children of illegal immigrants. The US is one of the only countries in the world to allow that practice.

"We passed the 14th Amendment that everybody benefits from — all over the world," Baraka said. "Didn’t know these couple of million ex-slaves would be able to become legislators and help pass the 14th Amendment, ratify it, so that now the whole world can benefit from these naturalized citizens of the United States."

In his further comments, he characterized Trump's anti-illegal immigration stance and deportation plans as intentionally racist, saying "Anyone can see there is a clear focus on criminalizing [b]lack and [b]rown immigrants – not just targeting those accused of crimes, but also people who disagree with them politically."

Baraka was arrested during a protest at Newark's ICE detention center Delaney Hall. US Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba later dropped the misdemeanor trespassing charges. However, Rep. LaMonica McIver from New Jersey's 10th District has been charged with felonies after body cam footage showed her hitting ICE agents. She has said she was conducting congressional oversight of the federal facility.