Oakland Mayor Says President Trump Is A "Bully" As She Warns Illegals Of
ICE Raids In City Over Weekend
The mayor of a sanctuary city in
California issued a warning that U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) could be conducting a raid in the area as soon as
Sunday — ratcheting up tension with the feds while giving her
constituents an early heads-up.
Libby Schaaf, the Democratic mayor of Oakland, shared the warning —
which she said she “learned from multiple credible sources” — in a press
release on Saturday, “not to panic our residents but to protect them,”
Fox 2 reported.
Libby Schaaf
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@LibbySchaaf
The mayor said she didn’t know further details of the ICE operation, but
claimed she felt it was her “duty and moral obligation as Mayor to give
those families fair warning when that threat appears imminent.”
The feds detained at least four people Sunday, a program manager for the
San Francisco Immigrant Legal Education Network told the San Francisco
Examiner, although the paper noted it was unclear if the detentions were
related to any broader ICE operation.
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Schaaf during a news conference on Sunday also said she told mayors of
other Bay Area cities of the impending ICE sweep, SFGate reported.
Her tweet on Saturday aligned with previous reports that law enforcement
officials in Northern California would not cooperate with ICE, and noted
state law “prohibits business owners from assisting ICE agents in
immigration enforcement and bars federal agents from accessing
employee-only areas.”
Schaaf, who is seeking reelection, said in January that she’d be willing
to go to jail to defend the city’s sanctuary city status, and has openly
opposed the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
“It is no surprise that the bully in chief is continuing to try to
intimidate our most vulnerable residents,” Schaaf said at the time.
“We're very clear that our values are to protect all of our residents
regardless of where we come from. We want to protect families, not tear
them apart.
And California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s running for governor,
commended Schaaf’s public warning, telling SFGate: “We can and must
protect immigrant families from Donald Trump’s mass deportations. I want
to thank Mayor Schaaf for her courage and hope more local leaders will
follow her lead.”
ICE told KGO-TV on Saturday that the bureau was unsure what Schaaf was
referring to as “There are ICE operations every day.”