Illegal Aliens: Crime and Non-Punishment, the San Francisco Way

San Francisco, the United States' most liberal city, has a law; don't turn illegal juvenile criminals over for deportation. Instead, send them to group homes hundreds of miles away so they aren't San Francisco's problem anymore. That appears to be working out well.

Three more juvenile illegal immigrant drug dealers sent by San Francisco to group homes hundreds of miles from the city have escaped, prompting juvenile probation officials to seek to bring back the only youth remaining at such a center….

[quote]The three were among the offenders previously protected from possible deportation under a long-standing city policy against handing over illegal immigrant juveniles to federal authorities, even those convicted of felonies. Until recently, San Francisco flew juvenile illegal immigrants convicted of drug crimes to their home countries rather than cooperate with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a practice that drew national attention when The Chronicle reported it Sunday.

When federal law enforcement authorities demanded that San Francisco halt the flights and began a criminal investigation, the city decided to house some of the dealers in long-term youth rehabilitation centers. Some of those centers are run by a nonprofitcompany called Silverlake Youth Services in mountain towns southeast of San Bernardino.

Eight Honduran juveniles who had been convicted of dealing drugs in San Francisco were sent within the past few weeks to the company’s group homes, where one month’s placement costs $7,000 per youth - an expense borne by San Francisco taxpayers.

Within 10 days of being sent to the unlocked group homes, however, all eight youths ran away, said Bill Siffermann, head of juvenile probation in San Francisco. He said his agency has issued arrest warrants for them.

Siffermann said the city has stopped sending juvenile offenders to Silverlake because of the escapes. “We have now eliminated that as a prospect,â€