ICE chief: Oakland mayor's warning kept 800 immigrants from being located

The Hill

By Brett Samuels

February 28, 2018

ICE chief: Oakland mayor's warning kept 800 immigrants from being located

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chief Thomas Homan on Wednesday criticized the mayor of Oakland, Calif., for warning residents of impending immigrations raids, saying she prevented the agency from locating 800 individuals deemed public safety threats.

“She gave them warning, and there’s 800 that we were unable to locate because of that warning, so that community is a lot less safe than it would have been,” Homan said on “Fox & Friends.”

“I watched her statement where she says her priority is the safety of her community. Well what she did had the exact opposite effect,” he added.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf (D) warned city residents Saturday night of pending immigration raids in the Bay Area, saying sweeps could occur in the next 24 hours.

ICE confirmed in a statement Tuesday night that it detained more than 150 people who violated U.S. immigration law in “targeted immigration enforcement operations” in the San Francisco area.

Homan said Wednesday that giving advance warning to residents about possible law enforcement operations makes the job more dangerous. He also likened Schaaf’s actions to a “gang lookout yelling ‘police’ ” when a police vehicle drives through a neighborhood.

“I’ll say this to the mayor and every other politician that wants to vilify the men and women of ICE: We’re not going away. We’re going to keep enforcing the law,” he said.

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