Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan said Wednesday that the Oakland mayor’s public warning about an upcoming raid left hundreds of criminals on the street and endangered law enforcement.
“Being a law enforcement officer is already dangerous enough, but to give the criminals a heads-up that we’re coming in the next 24 hours increases that risk,” Mr. Homan said on Fox News.
Mayor Libby Schaaf warned residents of the upcoming raid over the weekend, saying it was her “duty and moral obligation” to do so. She said she wanted to give residents the opportunity to “learn their rights and know their legal options,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“There’s over 800 significant public-safety threat criminals. These are people here illegally already, and committed yet another crime, been convicted of a crime, she gave them warning, and there were over 800 that we were unable to locate because of that warning. So that community is a lot less safe than it would have been,” Mr. Homan said.
He said the agency isn’t going to back down despite how politicians may choose to “vilify” them, adding that a border wall would help the agency control the issue of illegal immigrants.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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