Deadline: NOW and ongoing – On the eve of launching his re-election campaign, the Threatener-In-Chief announced that the administration would “begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in.”
Leave aside for a moment that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may or may not have been about to launch such an effort; and that if they were, Trump just blew their cover. How would such an operation work? The answer, say people who’ve looked at ICE staffing, budget, and past history of deportations, is that ICE could not possibly achieve anything like this goal.
That’s not the end of the discussion, though. We need to make sure that Trump doesn’t try to commandeer state and local forces to assist any federal effort. As the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed, under SB 54, the California Values Act – also known as California’s “sanctuary state” law – “California has the right … to refrain from assisting” federal immigration authorities. Various cities and counties in the East Bay have also declared themselves to be sanctuary jurisdictions.
In other words: Trump can’t pull this off without help. Let’s make damn sure that California and the East Bay don’t provide the help to make it happen.
What you can do:
Tell our state and local elected officials you want them to stand by the sanctuary laws, and against the Trump administration’s storm trooper tactics.
On the state level, Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra have expressed support for the state’s sanctuary laws. Tell them you want them to issue a statement that California will continue to enforce its law and refuse to assist ICE/CBP enforcement.
- Governor Gavin Newsom: email; 916-445-2841
- Attorney General Xavier Becerra: attorneygeneral@doj.ca.gov; 800-952-5225 [select English or Spanish, then press 0]
Locally, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf made a name for herself by warning the city’s immigrant community about threatened raids in 2018, and has said she’ll “continue to stand for” Oakland’s values – although she hasn’t said what that means. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin has also previously spoken out against Trump’s callous immigration policies.
Tell them you want them to stand by what they’ve said and ensure that no local funds or resources are used in cooperation with ICE/CBP:
- Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf: officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com; 510-238-3141
- Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin: mayor@cityofberkeley.info; 510-981-7100
Don’t live in Oakland or Berkeley? Other East Bay locations are also sanctuary jurisdictions, or have local elected officials who’ve expressed strong opposition to the administration’s immigration enforcement. Wherever you live, tell your local government that you want them to speak out and to refuse to cooperate with the Administration’s anti-immigrant, fear mongering policies.
Photograph, “California Governor Signs ‘Sanctuary State’ Bill“, by Marco Verch
