Oakland mayor warns of Bay Area ICE sweeps

Oakland, Calif., Mayor Libby Schaaf (D) warned city residents Saturday night of pending immigration raids in the Bay Area.

Schaaf cited information from “multiple credible sources” that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) planned to conduct a sweep in California’s Bay Area, possibly as soon as the next day.

“We want residents to prepare, not panic. We understand ICE has used activity rumors in the past as a tactic to create fear; our intent is for our community to go about their daily lives without fear, but resiliency and awareness,” Schaaf said in a press release. 

{mosads}Schaaf said she was not aware of details regarding precise locations of any possible raid. 

The statement about the potential raids included information on the obligations of school officials and business owners to protect immigrants.

The mayor’s warning comes two days after President Trump said he is considering pulling ICE agents out of California in response to the “sanctuary city” policies in effect across the state. Sanctuary cities block local law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration laws. 

“If we ever pulled our ICE out, if we ever said, ‘hey, let California alone, let them figure it out for themselves,’ in two months they’d be begging for us to come back,” Trump said.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said last month after a spike in rumors of increased immigration raids that state and federal law enforcement officials are expected to abide by California law, which provides protections to immigrants.