EDITORIALS &
OPINION



Sanctuary For Citizens
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 7/25/2008

Illegal Immigration: Just how many Americans need to be murdered, killed, robbed, assaulted and raped by illegal aliens before San Francisco's Gavin Newsome and other sanctuary-city mayors protect them as well?


The theory is that by providing sanctuary to those who've entered the U.S. illegally and not notifying federal authorities, the police get cooperation and intelligence from the illegal alien community in fighting crime.

Never mind that certain crimes would never happen if the illegals committing them weren't here in the first place.

How many crimes would be prevented if those who shouldn't be in this country had their immigration status checked in encounters with police, and those found to be illegal were sent home? We know of at least one.

Edwin Ramos, now 21, is being held on three counts of murder in the June 22 slayings of Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Mathew, 16. They were shot dead on their way home from a family picnic. Police say Ramos killed them for briefly blocking his car from completing a left turn down a narrow San Francisco street.

Ramos had a record. On Oct. 22, 2003, when he was 17, he and two other gang members flashed gang signs as they banged on the window of a passing city bus. They demanded a passenger identify which gang he was with. When the passenger indicated he was not a gang member, they boarded the bus and beat him. Ramos was convicted in juvenile court of assault and put in a shelter.

On April 2, 2004, Ramos was released to the custody of his mother. Just four days later, he committed another crime just two blocks from the scene of the bus assault. Ramos and two other men approached a pregnant woman from behind, and Ramos tried to yank away her backpack-style purse. Ramos was convicted as a juvenile of assault, another felony.

In neither of these cases were federal authorities notified. Ramos could and should have been referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but the Juvenile Probation Department's policy stipulates that "probation officers shall not discriminate in any fashion against minors based on their immigration status."

In March of this year, Ramos was arrested after being pulled over because his car had tinted windows and no front license plate. Another man in the car discarded a gun that was recovered and found to have been used in a double murder.

The police report said city police had "numerous documented contacts" with Ramos and his companion and that both were members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang. But charges were not filed because authorities could not prove Ramos knew his friend was armed.

Ramos is a poster child for San Francisco's sanctuary policy, boldly proclaimed and highly advertised on bus-stop posters and signs throughout the city. The policy, approved by the Board of Supervisors in 1989, bars police officers from inquiring into immigration status of those they come in contact with or passing information to federal authorities.

After ICE conducted a recent series of employer enforcement raids, Newsome reaffirmed that status, proclaiming that no San Francisco employee would cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts.

"I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any shape or form with these raids," Newsome declared.

This year, the mayor launched an $83,000 "public awareness campaign" to let illegal aliens everywhere know they're safe in the sanctuary by the bay.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for its American citizens.

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