Oakland: Why we're a sanctuary city ICE officials have misled us when they claimed to be pursuing criminals: Opposing view

Rebecca Kaplan | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump Hosts Round Table on Sanctuary Cities President Donald Trump convened some of the nation's top law enforcement officials to rail against so-called sanctuary cities Tuesday as he continues his crackdown on jurisdictions that try to flout federal immigration laws. (March 20)

Oakland has been a sanctuary city for decades, and I am pleased to be a part of the state of California, which recently adopted a Sanctuary State law.

Sanctuary jurisdictions do not assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement in conducting immigration raids or turning over people for deportation. When ICE asserts that it’s targeting criminals, some believe we should work with the federal agency. I disagree — because ICE has misled us when it claimed to be pursuing criminals.

Last August, ICE officers conducted a raid on a West Oakland family, claiming they were targeting child trafficking. ICE took one young man for deportation proceedings, but filed no human-trafficking criminal charges. Child trafficking is a real problem, which should be taken seriously, not misused as a false claim. After ICE disrupted and slandered this family, it turned out there was no evidence of human trafficking. Another family member whom ICE claimed to be “protecting” has since died.

OUR VIEW: Both sides mischaracterize sanctuary cities

Our community was outraged by the Oakland ICE raid, and the help that the Oakland Police Department provided for it. Claims that OPD was only providing “traffic support” did not ease this concern, as local resources were used to provide assistance for ICE.

ICE officials called their more recent raids “Keep Safe” — claiming that they are protecting the public by going after dangerous criminals.

However, a study of ICE communications by The Intercept found many false claims of crimes. Oppressive regimes throughout history have encouraged targeting of minority groups, perpetuating prejudice.

We need to strengthen trust between our community and law enforcement, not weaken it. When ICE makes crime victims or witnesses afraid to come forward, that makes us all less safe. It is crucial that the Oakland City Council unanimously passed our resolution, to end OPD’s assistance of ICE.

Rebecca Kaplan is Oakland’s citywide elected council member. She wrote the resolution of the Oakland City Council stating that the city is not to collude in ICE raids.

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