City council member, Sen. Schiff react to ICE agents attempting to search Sacramento law firm
Days after federal immigration officers attempted to search a Sacramento law firm, the Sacramento City Council member representing that district is calling the incident a “flagrant abuse of power” that “must never be tolerated.”
Lisa Kaplan represents District 1, where the Morris Law Group is located. The firm assists clients with obtaining citizenship, including asylum seekers and crime victims who are legally allowed to use the firm’s address as a safe mailing address.
Attorney Raissa Morris, head of the firm, believes the nature of her practice is what made her business a target. While she herself was not present at the time, her employees recalled the interaction to her.
The employees told her that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived in unmarked cars, some without license plates, and with dark-tinted windows. They were also armed.
Morris’ staff told the agents that they could not come through without a warrant, but Morris said one of the agents threatened to return if the firm did not comply.
“The attempt by ICE to target an immigration law firm with an illegal search in District 1 is a flagrant abuse of power meant purely for harassment and intimidation and a direct assault on the rule of law,” Kaplan said in a statement in response. “They are not battlegrounds for political intimidation. Weaponizing federal agencies to bully advocates and scare vulnerable communities undermines justice for everyone. We must demand immediate accountability and fiercely protect the integrity of our legal systems and constitutional rights.”
This incident has also drawn the attention of California U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, who said in a social media post that he plans to launch an investigation. He called the agents’ conduct “unconscionable.”
“ICE should know they cannot enter private property without a judicial warrant,” Schiff said. “Instead of complying with the law, ICE agents chose to threaten violence against a law firm because of whom they represent.”
Morris stated that if ICE agents return, they will need a search warrant signed by a judge.
In a statement to KCRA 3, DHS said, “On August 14, ICE officers approached an unmarked door during a targeted enforcement operation, thinking it was the target address as it was listed as the address of the illegal aliens they were planning to arrest. Upon finding out it was a law firm; they departed the address.”
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