Thread: CA-Tug-of-war over IDing illegals

Tug-of-war over IDing illegals
Rachel Gordon

Wednesday, May 26, 2010


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State Attorney General Jerry Brown rebuffed San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey's request to allow the city to "opt out" of the federal Secure Communities program aimed at identifying undocumented immigrants.

The program, scheduled to be rolled out in San Francisco Tuesday, already is operating in 169 counties nationwide.

Under the program, the California Department of Justice automatically sends the digital fingerprints of suspects booked by local law enforcement officials to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE.

If ICE finds a match in its database, the suspects can be detained until their immigration status is determined. Currently, the Sheriff's Department sends the fingerprints of everyone who is booked to the state Department of Justice for a criminal background check.

If a suspect has been arrested for a felony offense and his immigration status can't be verified, the city alerts ICE.

Under the new policy, the fingerprints of anyone booked, including those for minor offenses, would be sent automatically to federal immigration authorities. Hennessey and members of the city's Board of Supervisors say the program would gut San Francisco's sanctuary law and put many more people at risk of deportation.

Brown, however, defended Secure Communities and said that the issue is not a local matter. "Many of the people booked in local jails end up in state prison or go on to commit crimes in other counties and states," Brown wrote to Hennessey.

Hennessey's reaction: "I am disappointed ... and continue to be concerned that U.S. citizens and minor offenders will be caught up in the broad Secure Communities' net." He said he will continue to study the issue "to see how the program can be applied as fairly as possible."

The Board of Supervisors was to have voted Tuesday on a nonbinding resolution co-sponsored by eight of the 11 supervisors that would urge local law enforcement officials to opt out of the Secure Communities program. But at the request of Supervisor Carmen Chu, who is not a sponsor, consideration was delayed two weeks. Mayor Gavin Newsom has opposed efforts to remove San Francisco from the Secure Communities program.

- Rachel Gordon

New fees: A split Board of Supervisors, in a hold-your-nose vote, gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a new admission fee for non-San Francisco residents visiting the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park.

"It's a horrible decision ... but I think it's one thing we can do to help our overall budget problem," said Supervisor John Avalos.

The fee was approved on the condition that it would last a year and that any extension would require board approval. The board also required that if new tax revenue is made available to the Recreation and Park Department, the nonresident fee would be rescinded.

The plan is expected to net the cash-strapped Recreation and Park Department $250,000 a year, enough to cover the cost of three gardeners.

Out-of-town visitors will be charged $7. Seniors and youth will pay reduced rates, from $2 to $5. Children 4 and younger will not be charged.

The proposed fee deeply divided the public, with advocates on both sides waging petition drives and showing up en masse to testify at hearings.

Supervisor Eric Mar, who voted against the fee, said he fears that it won't be long before San Franciscans are charged too. He also is philosophically opposed to charging people to enter a public park. "An arboretum should be free for everyone," he said.

Other supervisors who supported the fee were David Chiu, Carmen Chu, Chris Daly, Sean Elsbernd, Sophie Maxwell, Michela Alioto-Pier and David Campos. Joining Mar in opposition were Supervisors Bevan Dufty and Ross Mirkarimi.

In a related matter, the board, with no discussion, unanimously supported charging nonresidents an extra $2 to ride the Coit Tower elevator, bringing the cost to $7.

A final vote on both proposals will be held in two weeks.

- Rachel Gordon


E-mail the City Insider team at cityinsider@sfchronicle.com.


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Hennessey's reaction: "I am disappointed ... and continue to be concerned that U.S. citizens and minor offenders will be caught up in the broad Secure Communities' net." He said he will continue to study the issue "to see how the program can be applied as fairly as possible."

This gutless bastard hennessey, has the audacity to protect illegal invaders, who should all be deported, under the scare tactic that “U.S. citizens and minor offenders will be caught up in the broad Secure Communities' net."

Minor offenders who are illegal invaders should be deported! Let me know when the first US citizen is deported!

I'm past sick and tired of these %$# traitors in positions of authority protecting illegal invaders! When is enough going to be enough!

Hennessey and members of the city's Board of Supervisors say the program would gut San Francisco's sanctuary law and put many more people at risk of deportation.

I still cannot believe we have people in positions of leadership that openly defy any attempts to enforce the law, but openly disobey the law in their protection of illegal invaders!

These enablers need to be kicked out!

California is the STronghold of the Open Borders crowd. Most specifically San Francisco and L.A....

It is high time to put serious pressure on these two sanctuary cities to get some REAL change in our nation. These two cities are a big key to winning this war and reversing the Illegal Invasion...

Serious National Boycotts against L A and S F are needed along with ANY other pressure we can put on them...S F and L A must be dealt with.

"... Might gut the sanctuary law??..." Giving sanctuary to illegal aliens is AGAINST the law! How can you "gut" something that doesn't actually exist? You can't have a law guaranteeing sanctuary, because it is against the law to do so!!!

Those people in that city are nothing but idiots and drama queens! Is there something in the water up there that turns people's brains in San Francisco to mush?

San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey needs to man up and do his job, instead of allowing people like the Bologna family to get shot up by illegal aliens who San Fran has allowed to go in and out of their jails like a revolving door.

Dixie

Someone needs to write an article in a SF based paper reminding the residents of that town of that Bologna family tradgedy, that happened because of SF's "secret" sanctuary policy. That policy is responsible for a lot of prevetable murders in that city, just as special order 40 in LA is responsible for deaths like that of Jamiel Shaw!