Bay Area Activists, Politicians Speak Out Ahead of Rumored ICE Raids
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- After reports that President Donald Trump will order U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids Sunday to deport undocumented immigrants, Bay Area activists and politicians spoke out against the possibility.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf released a statement Thursday saying Oakland is a proud sanctuary city.
"We are clear about our Oakland values and our American values. I want to assure members of our community not to panic but to be prepared, know your rights and responsibilities," Schaaf said in a statement. "Know that you are in a community where you are supported, respected, and appreciated."
Schaaf also encouraged the community to use resources available in the area such as Centro Legal de la Raza, the Legal Observers Core and the Rapid Response Network.
Bay Resistance organized a rally to protest the possible raids. About 350 people attended the rally that started at 5 p.m. Thursday outside of the ICE offices at 630 Sansome St. in San Francisco.
Those gathered called for the end of the detention centers and denounced the separation of migrant children from their families.
"We're all human beings and should be treated as human beings," said Rose Arrieta of Causa Justa Just Cause, which advocates for immigrants.
Cynthia Bourjac, an immigrant rights organizer for Causa Justa Just Cause and the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice said since Sunday ICE has already started increasing its activity in the Bay Area.
Hamid Yazdan Panah with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice said his organization has gotten confirmation of arrests in Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties.
He said detainees are having their rights violated, because immigration officers are making arrests on Sunday, ICE detention centers are closed on Sunday and therefore attorneys cannot see detainees. That violates detainees access to counsel among other rights.
The Facebook page also says that if ICE does carry out raids in the Bay Area this weekend, an emergency rally will be called for the same day of the raids and at the same time and location as Thursday's rally.
"Trump is threatening our immigrant loved ones and neighbors with mass raids and deportations," the Facebook post says. "We're standing up against his racist and repressive attacks."
According to the "Power Not Panic" Emergency Action Committee, immigration legal service providers from across Northern California dispatched two delegations of attorneys to ICE offices in San Francisco and the ICE processing center in Stockton.
The attorneys are demanding access to detained community members in order to make sure detainees are able to talk to pro-bono attorneys, who can inform them of their rights and provide free legal consultations.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke out Thursday morning in Washington DC against the rumored raids.
"Families belong together," she said. "Every person in America has rights."
Trump recently created panic about raids when he tweeted on June 17, "Next week ICE will 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."
On June 22, he tweeted the raids would be delayed at the request of Democrats to "see if the Democrats and Republicans can get together and work out a solution to the Asylum and Loophole problems at the Southern Border."
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