The relationship between U.S. immigration officials and California’s liberal leaders soured long ago, but Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s decision to warn potential targets of federal arrest that an immigration sweep could be imminent was an extraordinary escalation.
Schaaf said she issued the alert Saturday night after receiving confidential tips from “credible sources” who revealed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, was planning arrestsacross the Bay Area as soon as Sunday.
She and Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick discussed the reports before Schaaf concluded that the information was solid enough to warrant going public, according to people familiar with her thinking. Schaaf said she also conferred with legal counsel to make sure she wasn’t opening herself up to federal prosecution.
The news release that resulted — which Schaaf said was intended “not to panic our residents but to protect them” — was among the most assertive maneuvers by a local politician to counter the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The message: Not only will Oakland and its police force not cooperate with ICE, but the city will actively seek to thwart efforts to detain and deport immigrants.
“I know that Oakland is a city of law-abiding immigrants and families who deserve to live free from the constant threat of arrest and deportation,” Schaaf said in her Saturday night statement. “I believe it is my duty and moral obligation as Mayor to give those families fair warning when that threat appears imminent.”
ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Schaaf’s action. Officials provided a statement to KGO-TV saying, “There are ICE operations every day and it is unclear what the mayor is referring to.”
Trump has previously said that he's wanted to put California mayors and lawmakers in jail over defying ICE, so Mayor Schaal's actions are definitely going to come at a cost. Over at Hot Air, Jazz Shaw calls Schaal's actions a felony, and says Trump should act ASAP.
Do we really need to say much more than this? The White House has shown no hesitation in pursuing a termination of federal funding for cities engaging in this behavior. The President seems to be a big fan of the idea of “lock them up” when it comes to such violations. Why is the Mayor of Oakland exempt from this law?
Not to mention the fact that this isn’t some average citizen we’re talking about. This is the chief executive of a major city who was elected and took an oath to uphold the law. Rather than doing so, she is actively thwarting the efforts of federal law enforcement officials. Clearly, the legislators and the general populace of Oakland would have no interest in removing her from office, but she’s certainly not immune from federal prosecution. Nobody is. It’s simply insane that we’re now living in a society where such a thing has been normalized.
What happens from here I don't know. But Trump has never shown restraint in the past when it comes to punishing those who have defied him in some way. If Trump wants to make an example of someone, he's just been handed a potential target on a platter.
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