Libby Schaaf, the rebellious mayor of Oakland, California, is now the subject of a new proposed piece of legislation. The Mayor Libby Schaaf Act, introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-IA), would fine or imprison any government official who warns their community about an upcoming ICE raid. The sentence would go up to five years.
In February, Schaaf decided to inform her community on social media that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were going to be conducting a raid in the area in the next 24 hours. Her heads up gave hundreds of illegal immigrants the chance to flee. Many of them had violent records and, having escaped ICE's grasp, a few of those individuals proceeded to commit more crimes, according to ICE officials.
Schaaf had no regrets. In post-raid press conferences, Schaaf heralded herself a hero. Her social media warning, she insisted, kept her community "safe" because it kept families together.
That's not how the Justice Department saw it. In a press conference, Attorney General Jeff Sessions warned Schaaf that the administration was considering whether or not to take disciplinary action against her.
Rep. King certainly believes Schaaf's actions warrant an arrest.
“I want lawless, sanctuary city politicians to hear this message clearly: if you obstruct ICE, you are going to end up in the cooler,” King said in a statement about his new bill.
Not all of California has followed Schaaf's rebellious streak. The Los Alamitos City Council voted to opt out of the state's sanctuary city law in March and just this week Carlsbad voted to support the Trump administration's lawsuit against California's sanctuary city policies.
"Our laws are becoming more difficult to enforce,” said Mayor Matt Hall. “It takes many agencies working together to keep us safe.”
Read the full text of the Mayor Libby Schaaf Act here.
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