PAPER TRAIL

Emails Show ICE Surpassed Goal in Bay Area Raid

Sessions had claimed the Oakland mayor thwarted the raid, allowing hundreds of “criminals” to escape.

After Oakland Mayor Libby Schaff warned constituents of an incoming ICE raid this February, Attorney General Jeff Sessions blamed her for the continued presence of 860 criminals who evaded arrest. But according to a new report from The Mercury News, ICE actually surpassed its goal during the sweep, and ICE officials knew that blaming Schaff for allowing “criminals” to escape was inappropriate. Mercury obtained a series of heavily redacted emails, including a resignation letter from former ICE Spokesman James Schwab that explicitly stated that Sessions’ and ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan’s scathing criticism of Schaff was unwarranted. “Yesterday, I felt a truly disturbing mistake was made when we allowed the AG’s misleading statements stand without correction,” Schwab wrote in a resignation email. “AG Sessions and Mr. Homan continue to reiterate that more than 800 wanted criminals are at large because of the Oakland Mayor’s actions. While I was disturbed with her statement, I know that all of the targets would have never been picked up, regardless of anyone’s notifications.” “In fact, local (Enforcement and Removal Operations) said they’d be surprised if we picked up 200 before the Mayor even made the announcement. We ended up with more than the estimate …” he added in the email.