President Trump called out Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf by name for warning illegal aliens, many of which were convicted of violent crimes,  that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid was going to happen. “So instead of taking in a 1,000 they took in a fraction of that. What the mayor of Oakland did the other day was a disgrace… They had close to 1,000 people…ready to be taken off the streets,” the president told reporters. 

President Trump went further, saying that her actions endangered law enforcement, and that the federal government is considering taking action against her “personally”. The liberal mayor’s conduct may leave her open to being charged with obstruction of justice, punishable by up to ten years in prison. Reports suggest that among the illegal immigrants, 80 percent of them had criminal records. At issue, the mayor of Oakland issued a press release on February 24th warning that the raid was going to occur. 

Given the strong support for sanctuary policies in California,and other states, the Department of Justice is put in the position of either pursuing charges against the mayor of Oakland, or risking that this becomes a regular occurrence. California has demonstrated hostility toward federal immigration policy since President Trump took office, and is being sued by the Department of Justice for laws that contradict federal law.