U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) San Francisco division spokesman James Schwab has quit in protest against claims that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s pre-immigration enforcement operation alert to illegal aliens in her city resulted in 800 escaping justice.
Schaaf blasted out a public warning in February of an impending ICE immigration enforcement action,.
ICE Acting Director Tom Homan and Attorney General Jeff Sessions blamed Schaaf’s alert for allowing more than 800 criminal illegal aliens to evade immigration authorities.
Schwab lamented to CNN about the “burden” of representing the agency with information he claimed was “false.” He told the network news outlet that although he saw Schaaf’s actions as “misguided and not responsible,” Homan and Sessions were false in their claims because, “we never pick up 100% of our targets. And to say they’re a type of dangerous criminal is also misleading.”
After voicing his concerns to leadership at the agency, Schwab said he was directed to “deflect to previous statements.” He expressed surprise at the direction, which he described as unprecedented.
The Oakland mayor responded with praise for Schwab, according to CNN. ICE also offered a response, defending the acting director’s message that the mayor’s actions impacted the enforcement operation.
Sessions has accused Schaaf of endangering law enforcement with her alert to illegal aliens. He referred to approximately 800 illegal aliens who evaded capture possibly because of the warning.
Schaaf defended her actions with the claim that her alert could not have endangered law enforcement. She blasted Sessions with claims that he was attempting to advance a “racist agenda.”
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