President Trump amplified his administration’s criticism of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on Thursday, saying his administration was “looking at” her warning to illegal immigrants about a looming crackdown.
Schaaf, a Democrat, says she believes her Feb. 24 warning was “both legal and moral,” but the Justice Department is reviewing the matter, amid claims she may have obstructed justice.
“What the mayor of Oakland did the other day was a disgrace, where they had close to 1,000 people ready to be gotten, ready to be taken off the streets. Many of them, they say 85 percent of them, were criminals, had criminal records. The mayor of Oakland went out and she warned them all: scatter,” Trump said Thursday at a Cabinet meeting.
“Instead of taking in 1,000, they took in a fraction of that, about 150,” Trump continued. “And they were all set, this was long in the planning, and she said get out of here. She’s telling that to criminals and it’s certainly something we’re looking at with respect to her, individually. What she did is incredible and very dangerous from the standpoint of ICE and Border Patrol. Very dangerous. She really made law enforcement much more dangerous than it had to be, so we’re looking at that situation very carefully.”
It’s unclear why Trump cited only 150 arrests. Officials previously cited 232 arrests in the recent Bay Area sweep. The 800 alleged arrest-evasions previously was claimed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Thomas Homan.
Schaaf did not immediately respond to a request for comment or address Trump’s remarks on Twitter. But she has stood by her decision to warn her community in a statement that “multiple credible sources” said ICE was “preparing to conduct an operation in the Bay Area, including Oakland, starting as soon as within the next 24 hours.”
Trump’s remarks come after a Wednesday back and forth between Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Schaaf in the context of a broader push against “sanctuary cities” that don’t cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The Justice Department sued California this week for a “sanctuary state” policy of noncooperation.
“How dare you? How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of law enforcement just to promote a radical open borders agenda?” Sessions said of the mayor in a Sacramento speech.
Schaaf responded to Sessions: “How dare you vilify members of our community by trying to frighten the American public into thinking all undocumented residents are dangerous criminals? … How dare you distort the reality about declining violent crime in a diverse sanctuary city like Oakland, California, to advance your racist agenda?”
Although Trump’s remarks will draw increasing attention to the incident, Schaaf’s warning previously was denounced by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, who said in response to a question: “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. And that’s currently under review by the Department of Justice.”
