NYT: San Francisco to Vote on Immigration Reporting Policy

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/us/21sanctuary.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

San Francisco to Vote on Immigration Reporting Policy
by Jesse McKinley

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco board of supervisors is expected to vote Tuesday to overturn a city policy that has been at the center of a national debate over offering illegal immigrants sanctuary.

The policy, ordered by Mayor Gavin Newsom last summer, requires the police to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement whenever they arrest a juvenile on felony charges who they suspect is in the United States illegally. Since the policy took effect in August 2008, more than 100 undocumented minors have been turned over to federal immigration authorities.

Mr. Newsom has said that the ordinance is necessary to prevent young criminals from using the city’s so-called sanctuary policy, which prevents local agencies from cooperating with federal immigration officials, as a shield from prosecution.

“Sanctuary city was never designed to protect people who commit crimes,” said Nathan Ballard, a spokesman for Mr. Newsom.

But under the changes voted on Tuesday, such referrals would be required only after juveniles were convicted of crimes, instead of after their arrest. Immigration advocates say that referrals upon arrest have resulted in the deportation of innocent youths, and has discouraged members of immigrant communities from contacting the police when they are the victims of crime.

--snip--

The vote would be a sharp rebuke to Mr. Newsom, a Democrat who is running for governor. San Francisco adopted its sanctuary policy in 1989, and had long refused to refer minors in police custody to the federal authorities, although adults arrested have always been referred. Some of these minors were later flown to their home countries at taxpayer expense rather than being turned over to immigration authorities.

Mr. Newsom ordered the change in policy last summer after The San Francisco Chronicle reported that it had effectively allowed a group of young Honduran crack dealers to walk free after being sent to a group home in Southern California.

The report goes on to reference the June 2008 triple murder of a San Francisco man, Tony Bologna, and his two sons where illegal immigrant and gang member Edwin Ramos was the suspect.

My take on this: "Innocent until proven guilty" applies to all Americans, regardless of citizenship. And criminality does not discriminate: Keep in mind that many citizens commit crimes too. So do we take away their citizenships too? I think a lot of disgruntled "San Francisco Republicans" (I use that term pejoratively given how liberal SF is) and the anti-illegal immigration crowd are using Ramos and such policies to score political points to defeat Kamala Harris in her bid for CA Attorney General and Gavin Newsom for Governor. (Personally, I'm not sure if Newsom as candidate would win anyway.)

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1. UPDATE: Board of Supes pass this revision 8-2

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/21/MNO61A8DTN.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea