In a nation where the rule of law governed public officials, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf might be subject to arrest for obstruction after she issued a warning to the city's illegal alien community that there was a pending sweep by ICE.

But we no longer live in that kind of country. Public officials can now openly, brazzenly, defy federal authorities in their efforts to enforce immigration law.

SFGate:

The relationship between U.S. immigration officials and California’s liberal leaders soured long ago, but Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s decision to warn potential targets of federal arrest that an immigration sweep could be imminent was an extraordinary escalation.

Schaaf said she issued the alert Saturday night after receiving confidential tips from “credible sources” who revealed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, was planning arrests across the Bay Area as soon as Sunday.

She and Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick discussed the reports before Schaaf concluded that the information was solid enough to warrant going public, according to people familiar with her thinking. Schaaf said she also conferred with legal counsel to make sure she wasn’t opening herself up to federal prosecution.

The news release that resulted — which Schaaf said was intended “not to panic our residents but to protect them” — was among the most assertive maneuvers by a local politician to counter the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The message: Not only will Oakland and its police force not cooperate with ICE, but the city will actively seek to thwart efforts to detain and deport immigrants.

There's obviously a loophole in the law somewhere but I'm not seeing it. It may be that because she did not try to obstruct a specific ICE operation that she was absolved of any crime. Or it could be that ICE is avoiding that kind of confrontation and is turning a blind eye to the lawbreaking.

Either way, it's incredible. Local officials should not have the option of cooperating with federal authorities. Oakland is either part of the United States or it isn't. If it wishes to become an "open city" as New York declared itself during the Civil War, they should say so.

Schaff's justification for the warning is mindboggling:

At a news conference Sunday in the city’s heavily Latino Fruitvale neighborhood, Schaaf said she had notified mayors of other Bay Area cities of the imminent sweep and felt “confident that my sharing of this information, because I did not receive it through official channels, is legal.”

Asked why she would want to interfere in ICE’s ability to make arrests in Oakland, Schaaf did not answer directly. She said only that she had been told the targets of the sweep were wanted for immigration violations, not as suspects in crimes.

She referred to Oakland nurse Maria Mendoza-Sanchez, who with her husband was deported last year after more than two decades in the United States. The couple left behind four children who have legal status.

“Oakland is full of Marias,” Schaaf said.

Oakland may also harbor some Jose Inez Garcia Zarates - the man who murdered Kate Steinle, the San Fransico area woman gunned down on a pier. But who cares if there are a few Kate Steinles when you can protect illegals who may or may not be law abiding? 

I think we should open the borders and allow anyone who wants to come to the United States to be welcomed with open arms - as long as they settle in Oakland. We'll see how long Schaff continues to believe there is no difference between legal and illegal immigration.