Feds may prosecute mayor who warned of ICE raid

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf at a press conference Feb. 25, 2018, with Emma Paulino of Alameda County Immigration Legal & Education Partnership (Video screenshot)

The Department of Justice is considering obstruction-of-justice charges against Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf for warning illegal immigrants of an impending sweep by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers.

The Democratic mayor posted a Twitter message Saturday citing "multiple credible sources" who informed her ICE was "preparing to conduct an operation in the Bay Area, including Oakland, starting as soon as" Sunday.

The mayor held a press conference the following day declaring she was "sharing this information publicly not to panic our residents but to protect them."

"My priority is for the well-being and safety of all residents -- particularly our most vulnerable," she said.

On Tuesday, the immigration agency said that since Sunday, it had arrested more than 150 people in the Bay Area who were in violation of immigration laws. The three-day sweep included the California capital, Sacramento, and Stockton in the Central Valley, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

ICE said that half of the people arrested had criminal convictions.

But 864 illegal immigrants and public safety threats targeted in the raid remained at large, said acting ICE Director Thomas Homan.

He excoriated Schaaf in an interview Wednesday with "Fox & Friends."

"What she did is no better than a gang lookout yelling ‘police’ when a police cruiser comes in the neighborhood, except she did it to a whole community," Homan said.

"There's over 800 significant public safety threat criminals ... that we are unable to locate because of that warning, so that community's a lot less safe than it would've been."

Schaaf said Tuesday she "did not regret sharing this information."

"It is Oakland's legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws," she said.

"We know that law-abiding residents live in fear of arrest and deportation every day. My priority is for the long-term well-being of Oakland, and I know that our city is safer when we share information that leads to community awareness."

Prior to Schaaf's warning, President Trump threatened to remove ICE agents from California in response to the state's "sanctuary state policy" in which state officials are instructed not to report illegal immigrants to federal authorities.

Homan, in a statement, said sanctuary jurisdictions like San Francisco and Oakland "shield dangerous criminal aliens from federal law enforcement at the expense of public safety."

"Because these jurisdictions prevent ICE from arresting criminal aliens in the secure confines of a jail, they also force ICE officers to make more arrests out in the community, which poses increased risks for law enforcement and the public," he said.

A Fox News reporter who was given a ride-along with ICE officers during a raid confirmed Wednesday that ICE officials were asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Schaaf had broken any laws.

San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell, the Mercury News reported, also was defiant, releasing a statement saying his city won't "cower" as "the administration pursues their political plan of haphazardly punishing sanctuary cities."

"We stand with our hardworking, law-abiding immigrant neighbors and we are unified in our response to the divisive rhetoric of this president," he said.