Congressman Condemns Reported Plans of Raids for Undocumented Immigrants

After a report claimed that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the United States plans to scan through San Francisco and Northern California to arrest undocumented immigrants, Congressman Ro Khanna condemned the reported move.

“This is simply wrong. On October 5th, Governor (Jerry) Brown signed legislation declaring that local law enforcement agencies are not supposed to do ICE’s job. Now the administration is targeting immigrants to make a political statement,” Khanna, who represents California’s 17th Congressional District, said in a statement. “Immigrants are the backbone of our country and such raids will only incite fear in our communities and undermine public safety. We must stand up for their rights,” the American politician, who is of Punjabi origin, added.

According to the SFGate report, ICE authorities will be targeting the sanctuary state in a few weeks. They are looking to arrest more than 1,500 undocumented immigrants and send the state a message. As a sanctuary state, California will not be assisting ICE in apprehending the migrants.

“Last week, I joined with Rep. Gomez and Lofgren and other members of the California congressional delegation in sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security of Secretary Nielsen regarding recent comments made by Thomas Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to circumvent California state laws and increase enforcement in our communities,” Khanna added in his statement. “The letter states these statements are a direct threat to Californians and we request a meeting with Secretary Nielsen and Acting Director Homan so that he may clarify his statements before members of Congress.”

Homan in a Jan. 2 interview to Fox News said, “California better hold on tight” and if local politicians “don’t want to protect their communities, then ICE will”. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris asked to be “immediately briefed on the troubling reports.

Meanwhile, the city of Oakland in California has banned cooperation with ICE. Mayor Libby Schaaf said she is ready to go to jail to oppose the move by ICE.

“It is no surprise that the bully in chief is continuing to try to intimidate our most vulnerable residents,” said Schaaf, referring to President Donald Trump. “We’re very clear that our values are to protect all of our residents regardless of where we come from. We want to protect families, not tear them apart.”

The ICE earlier this month conducted raids at 100 7-Eleven stores in 17 states across the country to apprehend the undocumented immigrants working there. ICE agents arrested 21 people in the raids and gave employers three days to produce hiring records to prove that all employees had legal work permits. The raid was the first of many, according to Derek Benner, the acting head of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations. The raids target the employers as much as the employees as they would face criminal charges and fines.