Justice Department is reviewing California mayor's tipoff on immigration raid
Libby Schaaf, mayor of Oakland, California/Wikimedia Commons.
The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing a mayor’s public warning ahead of an immigration raid in Northern California.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, on Thursday disclosed the department is reviewing actions by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, report the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post.
“I think it’s outrageous that a mayor would circumvent federal authorities and certainly put them in danger by making a move such as that,” Sanders said.
Schaaf said in a statement on Tuesday that she had warned of the raid “to give all residents time to learn their rights and know their legal options.” She has said she learned of the roundup through “multiple credible sources” rather than official government channels.
Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 232 people suspected of violating immigration laws in the four-day raid that ended on Wednesday. Among that group, 115 people had prior felonies or had significant or multiple misdemeanors.
ICE acting director Thomas Homan told Fox & Friends that Schaaf’s warning had allowed about 800 criminal immigrants to avoid capture.
Two law professors who spoke with the Times thought a criminal charge against Schaaf would be unlikely.
“They can continue the political debate,” Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson told the newspaper. “But in terms of whether she’s an accomplice or a co-conspirator or obstructing justice I don’t think we’ve seen evidence of that.”
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