As Democrats and some Republicans in Congress continue to throw up roadblocks to real immigration reform along with countless state and local officials, the Trump administration is keeping a presidential campaign promise: To enforce all existing immigration laws.
And that includes finding, then deporting, people known to be in the U.S. illegally.
In the coming days the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, along with other federal immigration officials, will launch the largest roundup of illegal aliens in years. What’s more, there’s a reason why these raids will begin in California.
Details of the operation leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle noted that the immigration sweep will be concentrated in that city along with others in Northern California. In all, “federal officers look to arrest more than 1,500 undocumented people while sending the message that immigration policy will be enforced in the sanctuary state,” the paper reported.
But let’s get something straight: This isn’t Trump policy being enforced, its the Trump administration enforcing existing immigration laws, one of which is, you can’t come into the United States in an illegal, prohibited manner — such as sneaking in across the Mexican border.
The operation is expected to be launched within weeks, anonymous sources told the Chronicle, though it’s not clear if a start date has even been finalized. Because officials within the administration figured that details of the operation would indeed be leaked by someone on the inside, it’s likely the launch date will be kept ‘need-to-know’ until the last minute.
The paper noted further:
The operation would go after people who have been identified as targets for deportation, including those who have been served with final deportation orders and those with criminal histories, the source said. The number could tick up if officers come across other undocumented immigrants in the course of their actions and make what are known as collateral arrests.
Last fall Alt-Left California lawmakers passed “sanctuary state” legislation that essentially prohibits every law enforcement officer in the state from inquiring about immigration status of those in the state and assisting federal immigration efforts. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed it in October; the law went into effect Jan. 1.
Federal immigration officials blasted the law and accused Golden State lawmakers and Brown of putting law enforcement officers’ lives in danger.
ICE Director Thomas Homan said the administration would not allow California to become “a sanctuary state for illegal aliens,” and as such would have no choice but to “conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at work sites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community.”
And earlier this month, Homan was quoted as saying “California better hold on tight,” adding if local politicians “don’t want to protect their communities, then ICE will.”
This really should surprise no one.
For one thing, Trump campaigned on a platform of immigration law enforcement; it wasn’t just that he wanted to build a yuuuge wall, though that was part of his campaign and remains an objective today.
For another, Homan said publicly in July 2017 that he’d been given the green light by the Trump White House to ready a “sanctuary” crackdown that was sure to roil Alt-Left Democratic strongholds (like California). He said the president had “taken the handcuffs off of law enforcement who are charged with enforcing immigration laws” and given him the authority to go after sanctuary cities (and states) by planning raids and hiring 10,000 more personnel.
“The president recognizes that you’ve got to have a true interior enforcement strategy to make it uncomfortable for them,” he said.
Meanwhile, some local officials may be planning to resist. The mayor of Oakland, Calif., Libby Schaaf, said she would go to jail if need be to resist ICE raids.
If she or Oakland officials get in ICE’s way, that may just be what happens. (Related: Lawless leaders of sanctuary cities about to face ARREST across America (it’s about time))
Alt-Left Democratic lawbreakers have been given a reprieve long enough. Sheriff Trump isn’t going to back down. And they are in the wrong — not him.
Read more of J.D. Heyes’ work at The National Sentinel.
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