Democrats Running For New Jersey Governor Navigate The Delicate Politics Of Immigration

Along an industrial stretch of roadway in New Jersey's biggest city, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka appeared with immigrants rights activists last week to protest the Trump administration's deal with a private company to open the first new immigration detention center of the president's second term.

Voters, he said, "don't believe that people should be rounded up simply because they try to become citizens of the United States."

In pushing back against construction of the 1,000-bed detention facility, Baraka, one of six Democrats running for governor in New Jersey this year, has staked out an aggressive approach on an issue that his party has struggled with recently. Other candidates have either moved closer to President Donald Trump, partly embracing his get-tough approach to immigration, or spent most of their time talking about the economy and the high cost of living.

That range makes this year's June primary for New Jersey governor something of a testing ground for Democrats as they struggle to find their footing on an issue that has long bedeviled them. If the get-tough policy wins in liberal-leaning New Jersey, Democrats running elsewhere may have to rethink how best to appeal to their most loyal supporters.

The fight over the detention center represents the second time since Trump's inauguration this year that Newark has surfaced in immigration headlines - the first came after ICE arrests in January- with the mayor capturing the spotlight and working to chart his own path forward.