Oakland mayor’s warning puts immigrants, advocates on high alert

Bay Area immigrants are on their toes after Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf warned her community about a Bay Area wide ICE sweep , which she heard from multiple sources and not official channels.  Schaaf believes her announcement was an “ethical obligation”  and her duty despite the possibility of increased fear. She wants to protect these people and have them "prepared but not in panic."

“This is an opportunity for people to learn their rights and responsibilities,” she said, adding that there are “strict protocols” in the Oakland's public schools, and that  “police officers are ‘prohibited’ from participating in ICE enforcement, and that state law limits business owners in assisting ICE.” 

This, according to the article, is why there are now rising tensions between federal and local authorities because of our state's “limited cooperation with deportation efforts.”

There was at least one ICE detainee in Napa, as well as deportation orders in El Sobrante, Pinole and Atwater, on Sunday. 

Luckily, immigration hotlines and advocacy groups have also been warning the community about ICE raids, and Schaaf urged fearful immigrants to visit Centro Legal de la Raza’s website, “a legal services organization that advocates for the immigrant community.”

San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo also hopes families can still utilize legal resources without constantly giving in fear— like not having to keep kids at home all time or not being scared to go to the hospital when sick.

It was said that last Thursday, Trump announced that he was “‘thinking about’ pulling ICE out of California, but it appears that his administration is doing the opposite,” as a recent LA operation arrested 212 people suspected of illegal immigration, and how 122 business are being audited in terms of hiring records, and how 77 NorCal businesses were being demanded proof that their employees are legally living in the US.  

In Oakland, immigration advocates, volunteers, and lawyers were on standby as rumors of ICE raids arose, like SIREN, whose advocates sent over 2,000 community members text messages on what to do when a deferral officer shows up at their door.

Opinion: What really struck me in this article is how Mayor Liccardo hopes that these immigrants are not living in fear.  It is crazy because thousands of innocent immigrants are forced to be scared when driving, going to work, and even go to the hospital when they or their relatives are sick! And while we are a sanctuary city, there have still been many ICE raids where immigrants are getting detained.  I met a woman at last year's Alternative Spring Break when we sat in a bunch of deportation court hearings and she kept talking about how scared she was to be departed not because there was less opportunity in her birth country, but because she had been violently abused and followed by a gang to the point that she had to sneak in America for her safety with her less than 1 year old daughter. And now it is depressing to see that millions of people with similar experiences, as well as people who came here to make a better living, are living in constant fear of not only being deported but getting separated from family. 

Read More:   https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Bay-Area-oakland-ICE-raid-sweep-warn-residents-12707335.php