Many years ago, my father explained why we left Cuba and moved to the U.S.  It sounds like a fairy tale, but it's true.  

It was not about economics or looking for a job.  My father could have found a job in the new Cuban Central Bank and enjoyed some bureaucratic privileges.  We left Cuba because he was thinking about his kids, not himself.

Or there were social benefits that we would qualify for in the U.S.  In fact, my father did not know what Social Security was until he saw a deduction on his first paycheck. 

Welfare?  All we ever got was used furniture and winter coats.  They were given to us by a generous church.

We came here because my late father said that in the U.S., laws would be respected by all, or what we often to refer to as the rule of law.

My good guess is that my late father would be concerned about what we've just seen in Oakland – a mayor who protects criminals.  This is an amazing story that sounds a lot more like a Latin American country than the U.S.:    

A sweep of Northern California by federal immigration officials this week, which was partly thwarted when the Oakland mayor sounded the alarm, nabbed a number of illegal immigrants [sic] convicted of a variety of serious and violent crimes.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials announced this week that the four-day raid led to the arrest of 232 illegal immigrants [sic] in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Of those 232, 180 "were either convicted criminals, had been issued a final order of removal and failed to depart the United States, or had been previously removed" from the country and had come back illegally.

Another 115 "had prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as child sex crimes, weapons charges and assault, or had past convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors."

The numbers might have been greater, but for the intervention of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who tweeted out a warning of the impending raid, tipping off others who might have been caught.

Acting ICE Director Tom Homan said on "Fox & Friends" that Schaaf's warning meant that there are roughly 800 illegal immigrants [sic] they were unable to locate.

The intervention of Mayor Schaaf allowed criminals to escape?

This is an outrage, and Attorney General Sessions needs to take action here.  A.G. Sessions needs to put someone in jail, or more of this behavior will happen again.

I can't wait for a county or city to say abortions or "marriage" between two people of the same sex will not be tolerated in their jurisdiction.  I'm sure that Mayor Schaaf will be the first to say federal laws have to be respected. 

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.