More Than 150 Arrested in California Immigration Raids

Federal immigration agents arrested more than 150 people in California in the days after Oakland's mayor gave early warning of the raids, it was announced Tuesday.


US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced that agents made the arrests in a three-day sweep starting Sunday that covered cities from Sacramento in the north to Stockton in the Central Valley. About half of those arrested for being in the country illegally had criminal convictions, the agency said, AP reported.

On Saturday, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf warned residents that "credible sources" had told her a sweep was imminent, calling it her "duty and moral obligation" to warn families.

The warning "was meant to give all residents time to learn their rights and know their legal options," she said in a statement Tuesday night reported in the San Francisco Chronicle.

California lawmakers from Gov. Jerry Brown down to local mayors have resisted a Trump administration immigration crackdown that they contend is arbitrarily hauling in otherwise law-abiding people and splitting up families that include US-born children.
 (Tasnim)
 28/2/18