On Feb 27., officials reported that I.C.E arrested approximately 200 illegal immigrants during a three day sweep over multiple cities and counties.

There is controversy over the mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, who issued a warning on Feb. 23 on Twitter, stating there was going to be an immigration sweep in the San Francisco area the following day. The organization also said that the I.C.E police were unable to arrest an estimated 800 more immigrants who eluded the capture because of Mayor Schaafs warning.

Vanessa Rodriguez, 11, and President of the American Dream club, states her opinion on Libby Schaaf’s Twitter warning.

“She was giving innocent people a chance to keep living their lives with their family,” Rodriguez said. “I think she knows not every single Oakland immigrant is a convicted criminal.”                                                                                                                                                                     

Due to the mayor’s warning, I.C.E’s acting director, Thomas Homan, believes Shaaf may have endangered the lives of the I.C.E team during the massive arrest.

President Trump was among those who disagreed with Mayor Schaaf’s decision. “What the mayor of Oakland did the other day was a disgrace,” the president said during a cabinet meeting at the White House, according to ABC news.

There are a number of sanctuary cities that limit how much ICE can do to arrest selected immigrants. Similar to Libby Schaaf, Mayor of Albany, New York, Kathy Sheehan, defended her decision on keeping Albany a sanctuary city. Sheehan debated with Tucker Carlson that, “Being here without documentation isn’t a crime.”

A member of the American Dream club, Edward Haro, 11, speaks on his opinion on Schaaf’s warning.

“Most illegal immigrants that are here have been here for a really long time,” Haro said. “Some almost their whole life so they’re basically Americans, had she not warned them than their whole lives would been turned upside down.”

President Trump tried to put an end to sanctuary cities in January 2017 by issuing an executive order, which took away federal grants from these cities. An anonymous judge on the Supreme Court ruled in November of the same year that Trump’s executive order was voided because the federal grants had already been passed by congress.

Gilberto Jijon, 11, a member in the Downey High’s American Dream club expresses his opinion on the I.C.E statement.

“I don’t think people who risked their lives to come all the way over here, came to commit crimes,” Jijon said.

A couple of sanctuary states include: California, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont. These states have statewide laws to regulate immigration policies and will continue to keep status as sanctuary states.