Summary: In the last three days, ICE has made an appearance in the Northern California area and arrested 150 people suspected of violating immigration laws. Once the community was aware ICE was in the community, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff alerted the public on Saturday night and decreased the amount of arrests that were intended to be made. Schaff tweeted, "I do not regret sharing this information. It is Oakland's legal right to a be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws. We believe our community is safer when families stay together." The ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan thought that the mayors announcement was a "reckless decision based on her political agenda with the very federal laws ICE is sworn to uphold". Homan stated that there are 864 immigrants in the San Francisco, Stockton, Sacramento, and Bay Point area who need to be arrested and deported. In 2017, 20,201 arrests were made due to immigration violations, and 81% of them had criminal convictions. I think that from the ICE perspective they are aiming to arrest immigrants with a criminal history, and not just to break up a family.
Questions:
1. Do you think it's right for ICE to pursue immigrants with a criminal history?
2. Do you think that the Mayor should be able to warn the public and protect her city?
Link:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-norcal-immigration-arrests-20180227-story.html
2 comments:
The statements made by both sides on the issue of immigration are quite valid in my opinion. On one side, you have the government officials who are enforcing the laws that the representatives of the people made by deporting illegal immigrants that commit crimes. On the other side, you have mayors and police chiefs who want a safe and united city so they refuse to cooperate with ICE. Because of this, I think that it is right for ICE to pursue immigrants with a criminal history and also I support the mayor's decision to warn the public but I think "protect her city" goes a little too far.
I agree with Matt. ICE is simply doing their job, and they should be able to find and deport illegal immigrants who are breaking laws. I don't think that they are trying to deport all immigrants with a criminal history, just those who are in the US illegally.
However the mayor of Oakland doesn't want the city to be divided or worried, and so notifying the city that ICE is coming is a valid way to protest deportation of those who have families here. I also agree with Matt that saying the mayor is protecting her city by not cooperating is a stretch because ICE is only enforcing federal law and not doing anything to endanger Oakland.
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