The Trump administration is aiming to retain a federal prosecutor who arrested a sanctuary city mayor and charged a Democrat lawmaker for an incident outside a migrant detention center.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba for Senate confirmation, according to the White House. The Trump administration previously tapped Habba, who had represented Trump in several civil cases in past years, as New Jersey’s top prosecutor in March on an interim basis.
“Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey,” Trump posted on Truth Social in March when naming her as interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
If confirmed, Habba would be able to continuously serve as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor. More recently, Habba’s office garnered national headlines following an altercation outside a New Jersey migrant detention center involving several Democrats.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested in May when he attempted to join three Democrat congressional representatives touring the Delaney Hall detention facility. Baraka tried to accompany New Jersey Democratic Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman on a tour of the detention center, but were denied entry.
Video footage shows a heated exchange with the mayor when ICE agents prevented him from entering the detention center, with the chaos leading to Baraka being arrested and charged with trespassing.
The Department of Homeland Security later suggested that the Democrats did not follow proper procedure for the tour and accused them of storming Delaney Hall’s gate. Habba accused the mayor of trespassing in her own statement.
“The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon,” Habba stated on X at the time. “He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”
Habba’s office ultimately dropped the charge against Baraka, but charged McIver with two counts of assaulting officers for her alleged role in the incident. Prosecutors say the Democratic congresswoman “assaulted, impeded, and interfered with law enforcement” in what was allegedly an orchestrated attempt by the lawmaker to disrupt operations at the detention center under the guise of a congressional oversight visit.
Baraka — who ran for governor of New Jersey — has since filed a lawsuit against Habba for his arrest and McIver maintains that she is the victim of political persecution by the Trump administration.
In May, the Department of Justice sued several cities in New Jersey, including Newark, over sanctuary policies that allegedly obstruct federal immigration authorities’ ability to conduct enforcement operations.
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