January 18, 2018 - Washington—Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris (both D-Calif.) on Wednesday called on the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to brief them on how ICE raids are prioritized and asked for all communications regarding upcoming raids in California.

The letter comes in the wake of reporting that California should expect significant ICE raids in the near future.

“We write to request we be immediately briefed on the troubling reports that ICE is targeting raids in California. Please ensure we are provided with a full accounting of how ICE raids are being prioritized and conducted, including all relevant documents, memorandums, and email exchanges regarding these raids in California,” the senators wrote.

“We firmly believe that law enforcement must prioritize dangerous criminals, not undocumented immigrants who do not pose a threat to public safety. Diverting resources in an effort to punish California and score political points is an abhorrent abuse of power, not to mention a terrible misuse of scarce resources.”

Full text of the letter follows:

January 17, 2018

The Honorable Thomas Homan

Acting Director

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

500 12th Street SW

Washington, D.C. 20563

Dear Acting Director Homan:

We write to request we be immediately briefed on the troubling reports that ICE is targeting raids in California. Please ensure we are provided with a full accounting of how ICE raids are being prioritized and conducted, including all relevant documents, memorandums, and email exchanges regarding these raids in California.

We were very concerned when we saw a Fox News interview on January 2, 2018, where you said “California better hold on tight” and if local politicians “don’t want to protect their communities, then ICE will.” This statement is dead wrong and insulting. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Now, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “has begun preparing for a major sweep in San Francisco and other Northern California cities in which federal officers would look to arrest more than 1,500 undocumented people.” The same article reports that ICE is sending additional personnel to California to increase the number of raids.

We are deeply concerned that rather than focusing efforts on violent criminals, raids carried out in neighborhoods and workplaces could result in the deportation of individuals who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Specifically, you were quoted as saying ICE plans to “conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests.”

Yesterday, Secretary Nielsen confirmed that violent criminals are not the top enforcement priority. When asked about how deportations are going to be prioritized Secretary Nielsen stated that individuals with criminal convictions and individuals without criminal convictions are “both top-tier priority for enforcement.”

We firmly believe that law enforcement must prioritize dangerous criminals, not undocumented immigrants who do not pose a threat to public safety. Diverting resources in an effort to punish California and score political points is an abhorrent abuse of power, not to mention a terrible misuse of scarce resources.

We appreciate your immediate response to this time-sensitive request.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein

United States Senator

Kamala Harris

United States Senator
Source: Senator Dianne Feinstein