Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is suing interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba over his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last month outside Delaney Hall. The lawsuit accuses Habba of defamation and seeks damages for what it calls "false arrest and malicious prosecution.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka filed a lawsuit Tuesday against interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and a Department of Homeland Security investigator, alleging that Habba defamed him and they violated his constitutional rights when he was arrested at a federal immigration detention center earlier this month.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, arguing that his arrest outside an immigration detention center was motivated by politics.