The Trump administration has made the deportation of undocumented immigrants a priority, which has led to some interesting disagreements at the state and federal level and a burgeoning progressive movement calling for the abolishment of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. For at least one now-former ICE employee, enough is enough.
James Schwab, who worked in ICE’s San Francisco Division, resigned recently because “he could no longer ‘bear the burden’ of spreading falsehoods on behalf of the Trump administration.” Schwab said his decision was made after the agency made a false claim in February that Attorney General Jeff Session repeated earlier this month. Via the New York Times:
The statements criticized the mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, for her decision last month to warn city residents that a raid by federal immigration agents targeting roughly 1,000 people was imminent. The agency’s deputy director, Thomas D. Homan, said that Ms. Schaaf’s warning had helped “864 criminal aliens and public safety threats” to evade capture in the raid.
Mr. Sessions, in a visit to California last week, condemned Ms. Schaaf, a Democrat, and echoed the agency, asserting that her actions had allowed hundreds to escape.
In interviews, Schwab said he was frustrated with the remarks and decided to quit “because I didn’t want to perpetuate misleading facts.” When he tried to get the agency to issue a correction, Schwab was told to just deflect any questions he received on the topic. In a statement, Mayor Schaaf applauded Schwab’s decision to resign. “Our democracy depends on public servants who act with integrity and hold transparency in the highest regard,” she said.
(Via New York Times)