Right-Wing Institute Gearing Up 'To Take Down San Francisco' Over Sanctuary City Policy

By Lauren Smiley
Thu., Oct. 22 2009 @ 3:08PM

Challengers to the city's proposed new sanctuary policy are already circling
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You may remember the furor over the memo Mayor Gavin Newsom leaked from the city attorney stating the city would face a "likely legal challenge" if it changed the hard-line policy towards reporting undocumented juveniles charged with felonies.


The "likely law suit" is no longer a nebulous threat. The Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Reform Law Institute told SF Weekly Thursday it is actively seeking a plaintiff for the "honor" of suing San Francisco over Tuesday's change to the sanctuary city policy.

"Based on that memo, the question isn't if, but when," says the institute's general counsel Mike Hethmon. "It really is a road map." San Franciscans should expect a suit from "ours or a lot of other law institutions that would like to claim the glory of taking down San Francisco.

"Just because they have the rainbow flag in San Francisco and the Confederate flag in Alabama doesn't change the underlying issues of federal supremacy," Hethmon added, claiming the proposed change to city policy violates federal laws.

The anti-illegal immigration law organization is the same group that represented folks unsuccessfully suing the city over issuing Municipal IDs to undocumented immigrants last year.

Hethmon says the institute has been contacting groups in the city to find a possible plaintiff for a case -- i.e. someone in the justice system who wanted to report an undocumented kid to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but will be restricted from doing so under the proposed policy. (This may never happen, as news reports today indicate the probation officers union doesn't expect to enforce the new legislation anytime soon.)

"We're reaching out to groups in San Francisco and saying, 'Do you know anyone that's really steamed but is willing to put their names on a complaint and subject themselves to the annoyances and burdens of being a plaintiff in a test case?'" Hethmon said. "The Brown v. Board of Education types aren't on every street corner," he added, referencing the case that desegregated schools.

But Supervisor David Campos is undeterred by such legal threats, as he explained Tuesday following the adoption of his measure. "The thing about legal challenges is some of the same people saying we should not pass this because of the potential legal challenge have not had a problem in the past with San Francisco facing legal challenges and passing legislation because it was the right thing to do." He noted that the city has faced legal challenges on gay marriage and universal health care as well.

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/200 ... ing_up.php