Immigrant youth sanctuary proposal moves ahead

By JULIANA BARBASSA, The Associated Press
4:22 p.m. October 5, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco supervisors moved closer Monday to implementing a proposal that would require underaged illegal immigrants arrested by police to be convicted of a crime before they are turned over to immigration authorities.

The measure was approved by the Board of Supervisors' Public Safety Committee after a lengthy public hearing.

If adopted, the measure would reverse Mayor Gavin Newsom's stance. The current city policy allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be contacted at the time of the youth's arrest.

Immigrant advocates argue this takes minors who have not been proven guilty away from their families and deprives them of their right to due process.

Supervisor David Campos, who sponsored the proposal, said San Francisco has led the way in arenas from same-sex marriage to universal health care. This is yet another issue in which the city can take leadership, he said.

"San Francisco has been on the forefront of protecting the rights of immigrants," he said. "What we do here has implications for other parts of the country."

The proposal has drawn criticism from the mayor, the city's police chief, and the district attorney.

Newsom enacted the current policy after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that young felons who had escaped deportation because of a loophole in the city's 1989 sanctuary city policy had committed other crimes.

The mayor and other opponents of the proposal argue this change would open the city's sanctuary policy to attack in the court system.
But the proposal, supported by immigrant advocates, also has the backing of a veto-proof majority of city supervisors. It is scheduled to go before the full board on October 20.

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