A day after agents confirmed that more than 150 people in California were arrested in immigration raids, a federal immigration official lashed out at the Oakland mayor who gave a public warning ahead of the raids, saying it was “no better than a gang lookout yelling ‘police’”.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) chief, Thomas Homan, speaking to Fox and Friends on Wednesday, said that the warning from the mayor, Libby Schaaf, helped about 800 people avoid arrest. He also said the justice department was looking into whether Schaaf obstructed justice.

On Tuesday, Ice confirmed that agents arrested more than 150 people in California in a three-day sweep that covered cities from Sacramento to Stockton in California’s Central Valley agricultural heartland. About half of those arrested for being in the country illegally had criminal convictions, the agency said.



Schaaf defended her decision Tuesday night.

“I do not regret sharing this information,” Schaaf said. “It is Oakland’s legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws. We believe our community is safer when families stay together.”

On Saturday, Schaaf warned residents that “credible sources” had told her a sweep was imminent, calling it her “duty and moral obligation” to warn families.

The warning “was meant to give all residents time to learn their rights and know their legal options,” she said in a statement Tuesday night reported in the San Francisco Chronicle.

California lawmakers, from the governor Jerry Brown down to local mayors, have resisted a Trump administration immigration crackdown that they contend is arbitrarily hauling in otherwise law-abiding people and splitting up families that include US-born children.

Homan lambasted Schaaf and her city in a statement that suggested the sweep targeted so-called “sanctuary cities” that limit cooperation between Ice and local law enforcement.

“Sanctuary jurisdictions like San Francisco and Oakland shield dangerous criminal aliens from federal law enforcement at the expense of public safety,” Homan said. “Because these jurisdictions prevent Ice from arresting criminal aliens in the secure confines of a jail, they also force Ice officers to make more arrests out in the community, which poses increased risks for law enforcement and the public.”

Defenders of sanctuary city practices say they actually improve public safety by promoting trust among law enforcement and immigrant communities and reserving scarce police resources for other, more urgent crime-fighting needs.

Ice said those arrested included several people with convictions for crimes such as assault with a deadly weapon, including a man who had been previously deported to Mexico eight times.

The Ice sweep was the second since a statewide sanctuary law took effect last month. Ice arrested more than 200 people earlier this month in the Los Angeles area.