The White House on Thursday said the Department of Justice was reviewing the actions of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who last weekend alerted residents in advance of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Northern California.
"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," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters.
She said Schaaf's actions were under "review" but would not be more specific.
Justin Berton, a spokesman for Schaaf, said the mayor's office is unaware of any review and declined to comment further. A Justice Department spokesman in the Bay Area also declined to comment.
So, considering that aiding and abetting a criminal (both at the State and Federal level) includes any actions that help an individual successfully commit a crime, or any actions that might help a criminal avoid capture.... why wouldn't the actions of the Oakland Mayor be considered a criminal act?
Certainly, as a sanctuary city, there seems to be precedent to to use prosecutorial discretion and not pursue certain types of criminal actions. It may even be considered a reasonable use of discretion to not inform the Federal Government when a person who has violated federal law is in custody.
But are there any lines to how far you can go in defending criminal activity? Tipping off criminals that law enforcement is coming, seems to be a line that we may want to keep drawn.
The ICE raids in Oakland led to the capture of 115 illegals who had prior convictions for "serious or violent" crimes, including assault, weapons violations, and sex crimes against children. Nearly 900 more illegal immigrants with serious criminal history are still at large. It can be argued that many of those 900 assault, weapons, and sex criminals would not be at large, if not for the actions of the Oakland Mayor.
4 comments:
I am so glad I don't live in California. What a freak show that state has become.
And this comes from a guy who lives in NY!
There's no question at all. She obstructed justice by warning illegal aliens that ICE was in town.
This is not mere political opposition, this is active interference in the execution of the law.
She should go to jail.
lock her up!
That was my knee-jerk reaction also, the "WTF, is the Mayor impeding Federal law enforcement, and is that criminal?"
But her warning was general enough that I think she skates by on it. If she'd been specific, a specific raid or specific individuals, that would be a different story but she only said that there was going to be a sweep in the city.
In a way, local government should have the right to inform local citizens of any impending federal actions. I think that her warning was foolish in this case, but her foolishness should be addressed by her constituents and by the application of State and Local statutes, if any are relevant. I don't see Federal jurisdiction as viable.
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