A massive impending Bay Area ICE raid is apparently intended to send a signal to sanctuary cities

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are reportedly poised to arrest more than 1,500 undocumented immigrants in the region around the Bay Area in California in a maneuver apparently intended to send a signal to sanctuary cities across the country, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed statewide sanctuary legislation for California in October, leading acting ICE Director Thomas Homan to tell Fox News that the state "better hold on tight." The upcoming sweep will target "people who have been identified as targets for deportation, including those who have been served with final deportation orders and those with criminal histories," the Chronicle reports based on conversations with someone familiar with ICE's plans, although "the number could tick up if officers come across other undocumented immigrants in the course of their actions and make what are known as collateral arrests."

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) responded to the news Tuesday, blasting the administration for "carrying out its enforcement actions to make a political point and not based on the security of the country." Santa Clara University School of Law professor Pratheepan Gulasekaram, who specializes in immigration, told the Chronicle the raid is likely to "tear up a lot of lives" but won't have a "meaningful outcome on public safety."

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On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said that the Justice Department is also considering hitting local leaders who implement sanctuary city laws with criminal charges, Newsweek reports. Homan had also told Fox News: "We gotta take [sanctuary cities] to court, and we gotta start charging some of these politicians with crimes."