Sanctuary Cities and States
In February 2018, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf alerted residents that there would be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California, an action that led to an alleged 800 people avoiding detention from ICE. The act was harshly criticized by both President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, both of whom left open the possibility of pressing charges against Schaaf.
The acts of Libby Schaaf and the potential prosecution of her center on the issue of sanctuary cities, locations and states , or areas (such as California, which is a self-described “sanctuary state”) that choose not to cooperate with the Federal Government in deporting people without immigration documents; a policy that has been harshly criticized by various Republicans and the Trump Administration, which has sued California in an attempt to rule its sanctuary state policy unconstitutional.
Matt Shupe, Chair of the Contra Costa County Republican Party, is likewise harshly critical of sanctuary city policies and claims that the sanctuary city policy “protects people committing a crime…and not necessarily law-abiding undocumented immigrants [are protected by the sanctuary city policy]”, and that the policy harms people without immigration documents in particular because they fear going to the police, and are thus at greater risk of being attacked by “other undocumented immigrants” now protected by the policy, which he claims is an “obstruction of justice”. Shupe likewise claims that Libby Schaaf’s warning that an ICE raid was imminent did not protect “law-abiding undocumented immigrants”, but instead protected “gang members and violent criminals” at the expense of “law-abiding citizens and…law-abiding undocumented immigrants”. However, Shupe declined to comment on the potential prosecution of Libby Schaaf, citing the fact that he is not a licensed attorney as the reason.
On the contrary, Salvatore J. Cordileone, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, called San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy a “just and humanitarian policy” that did need minor corrections, but was generally positive. Likewise, others have voiced their support of the sanctuary city policy, as statistics show that local jurisdictions not enforcing Federal immigration laws causes higher rates of crime reporting by illegal immigrants, fosters trust between local police and immigrant communities (which is integral to lower rates of crime), and does not lead to higher crime rates.
Walnut Creek is not a sanctuary city. The Walnut Creek City Council has a policy “that dictates what issues the Council can take up, such as “issues like [sanctuary cities]” or “gun control”, according to Justin Wedel, Mayor of Walnut Creek. More specifically, the policy, Section 5.1 of the City Council Handbook, states that “The City Council shall not take action on any matter that has no direct effect on the local affairs of the City of Walnut Creek and over which the City, as a California municipal corporation, has no jurisdiction.”
Yet although Walnut Creek is not a sanctuary city, California remains a “sanctuary state” - a state that prohibits most forms of cooperation between state/local law enforcement and Federal immigration authorities, a contentious issue that has been strongly opposed by federal and state Republicans and championed by California Democrats, particularly Governor Jerry Brown and State Senate pro tempore and candidate for United States Senate Kevin de Leon. Although a majority of California voters support the sanctuary state laws, it faces a strong legal challenge at the hands of the Federal Government that could potentially lead to the sanctuary state laws being struck down in Federal courts. Only one certainty remains - that the complex battles over sanctuary cities and states will remain a contentious political issue for years to come.
As a matter of disclosure, the Page did not interview Salvatore J. Cordileone, whose comments were public ones that are not the official position of the Roman Catholic Church.
