Official slams warning about raids
the weekend of large-scale, impending raids by immigration agents in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Homan said the Justice Department is looking into whether Schaaf obstructed justice and said her actions allowed immigrants who have committed crimes to remain in Oakland, making the community less safe.
Federal immigration agents arrested more than 150 people in California in the days after Schaaf ’s warning, the agency announced Tuesday.
Agents made the arrests in a three-day sweep starting Sunday that covered cities from Sacramento to Stockton in California’s Central Valley. About half of those arrested for being in the country illegally had criminal convictions, the agency said.
Schaaf, a Democrat running for re-election this year, warned residents on Twitter Saturday night that “credible sources” told her a sweep was imminent, calling it her “duty and moral obligation” to warn families.
In a statement Tuesday, Homan suggested the sweep targeted so-called “sanctuary cities” that limit cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions like San Francisco and Oakland shield dangerous criminal aliens from federal law enforcement at the expense of public safety,” Homan said. “Because these jurisdictions prevent ICE from arresting criminal aliens in the secure confines of a jail, they also force ICE officers to make more arrests out in the community, which poses increased risks for law enforcement and the public.”
ICE said those arrested included several people with convictions for crimes such as assault with a deadly weapon, including a man previously deported to Mexico eight times.