Bay Area Lawmakers Weigh In After Trump Delays ICE Deportation Raids For 2 Weeks
OAKLAND (KPIX) - Immigrant communities living in fear of imminent ICE raids this weekend were breathing a sigh of relief after the president issued a last minute reversal, to put them on hold.
President Trump took to twitter this morning to announce the delay of ICE raids for two weeks.
The softened stance was a welcome surprise as lawmakers bought some time to come up with a compromise on immigration.
After receiving intense criticism on his immigration policy, President Trump tweeted this this morning:
"At the request of Democrats, I have delayed the Illegal Immigration Removal Process (Deportation) for two weeks 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. If not, Deportations start!"
ICE had plans for arresting and deporting two thousand migrant families that have already received court ordered removals.
Here in California, Governor Gavin Newsom tried to calm the fears by releasing a video on Twitter to educate undocumented immigrants on their rights.
State Senator Nancy Skinner also voiced her support for those living in her district.
"We stand with our immigrant communities and we know that our immigrant communities are such a mixture and they contribute so much to our state and economy," said Skinner.
The City of Oakland has also vowed not to aid ICE in any of its operations within the city. Mayor Libby Schaaf hopes within these next two weeks, both sides of the aisle can find some common ground, but is put off by the rhetoric coming from the Commander-in-Chief.
"I am hopeful that some progress can be made in the next two weeks but this President does not help. His racist and divisive invective is poisoning political dialogue," said Schaaf.
Some Oakland residents told KPIX 5 they are also concerned about the leadership coming from the White House.
"Two weeks is not going to do it and it's especially not happening if he's not signaling areas of compromise," said Hayin Kimner.
But the two-week window gives others, like Cathya Lopez some hope.
"I'm very optimistic because I do believe that things have to get worse before they get better so hopefully people open their eyes of the reality of this and that they are able to find compassion and empathy in their hearts," said Lopez.
The raids were expected to start tomorrow. The Associated Press is reporting the operation was also delayed because of details leaked to the media that jeopardized officer safety.
