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  1. #1
    Senior Member zeezil's Avatar
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    Young illegal immigrants lose their San Francisco sanctuary

    Young illegal immigrants lose their San Francisco sanctuary
    The city can no longer escort them back home or send them to the Inland Empire.
    By Maria L. LaGanga, David Kelly and Anna Gorman
    Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

    July 2, 2008

    SAN FRANCISCO — California's best-known sanctuary city -- a haven for illegal immigrants -- has been escorting convicted juvenile offenders back to their home countries at city expense for nearly a generation and shielding them from federal officials in the process.

    But after several recent embarrassing incidents, this famously liberal enclave has been forced to reconsider how it deals with young undocumented criminals.

    Ever since a city juvenile probation officer was detained by federal immigration authorities in Houston nearly seven weeks ago and questioned about two offenders he was escorting back to Honduras, the city has stopped flying such people home.

    Instead, officials have increased the number sent to unsecured group homes in San Bernardino County. But then eight convicted juvenile drug dealers from Honduras walked away from facilities run by Silverlake Youth Services in recent days, creating an uproar among Inland Empire residents and officials.

    "I was unaware that the city had its own foreign policy and immigration laws that superseded federal law," San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt said, referring to San Francisco. "No one should have to suffer from a poorly thought-out policy such as this."

    So San Francisco officials are shifting gears again.

    "Those unfortunate escapes are unacceptable and are producing no intended results and creating unintended consequences, and so that practice has also stopped," Mayor Gavin Newsom said Tuesday. "We did this two days ago."

    In an interview on the same day he announced that he would explore a run for governor, Newsom was pushed to balance the competing interests of a wide-open city with the need to sound tough on the volatile issue of immigration.

    He blamed the courts in part and said the city could not be held entirely responsible for the snafus, pointing out that "every one of these transportation cases has a judicial order" sending the convicted youths "down south" or "over the border into Honduras."

    "Here's the problem for me: I don't run the courts," he said.

    Although the city "policy of deportation ended when this incident occurred," he said, his office must still sit down with the district attorney's office, the public defender's office and court officials to craft a process for dealing with young illegal immigrant offenders in the future.

    The public defender and the judge who oversees Juvenile Court did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

    Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris said in a written statement: "Every city agency needs to work together to balance our obligations under federal law and the sanctuary ordinance to solve crimes and put the offenders behind bars."

    But Joseph Russoniello, United States attorney for California's northern district, took San Francisco officials to task for their long-term policy of not turning over the young people to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities.

    Russoniello said in an interview that "the phenomenon of Hondurans being trucked into the Bay Area, housed in Oakland and sent out to sell crack cocaine" has been going on for years and that dealers claim to be under 18 so they can avoid harsher treatment by federal authorities.

    He complained that San Francisco authorities do not verify that the accused are under age and that the dealers and drug traffickers who bring them to this country "know they can game the system by claiming they're juveniles."

    "The status can't be confirmed with ICE," Russoniello said. "There's virtually no risk and until recently a fully paid ticket home. . . . This was an open loop."

    Newsom insisted Tuesday that the practice of shielding young illegal immigrant offenders from federal officials was not meant to protect lawbreakers.

    He said it stemmed in part from the sanctuary city ordinance, enacted in 1989, which requires that the city turn over to ICE adult illegal immigrants with felony records or those who have been accused of felonies but is murkier on the subject of juvenile offenders.

    But other factors were at play. In the 1980s, Newsom said, immigration officials stopped taking custody of young illegal immigrant offenders handed over by the city.

    In addition, San Francisco officials misinterpreted state law, he said, thinking that the Welfare and Institutions Code prohibited them from sharing juvenile criminal information with federal authorities. The city attorney, he said, has recently "clarified that that is not the case."

    Russoniello wasn't buying it Tuesday, calling Newsom's explanation "all contrivance."

    "They have said all along that it was the sanctuary policy that mandated they shield these people from ICE," he said. "It's only because it's so preposterous that the sanctuary law would shield drug dealers that they've now come up with this alibi."

    The juvenile Honduran drug dealers' escape was reported Tuesday by the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper had described the city's policies toward young undocumented offenders in its Sunday editions.

    Residents and elected officials in San Bernardino County sounded angry Tuesday that young illegal immigrants were sent to their neighborhoods instead of being handed over to federal immigration officials.

    San Bernardino County Sheriff's Capt. Bart Gray said he is frustrated that Yucaipa has become a destination for juveniles who have committed crimes. He said, however, that there is no active investigation to find and arrest them.

    "It doesn't matter if it's kids from San Francisco or anywhere else; we are importing criminals," Gray said.

    "It's frustrating to have convicted criminals imported into your community that then commit crimes in your community," he said.

    Gray said he believed that all eight youths recently sent from San Francisco had walked away from the homes, though he said he had runaway reports on only five of them, from June 20 and June 22.

    Many of the Hondurans were sent to Douglas House, which sits along a busy road in Yucaipa and is far shabbier than it appears on the Silverlake Youth Services website. Garbage cans and old pieces of furniture compete for space in the driveway.

    A woman who answered the door at Douglas House refused to comment Tuesday, as did Zachary D. Fox, Silverlake's chief executive, but those living nearby were shocked to hear that drug dealers had lived in the house.

    They knew the house was a home for troubled youths but not necessarily for criminals.

    Dawn Schaefer, 36, moved into the quiet neighborhood about a year ago.

    "If we knew who lived in that house, we probably wouldn't have bought here," she said.

    It was also news to Yucaipa Mayor Dick Riddell, who said he was "very upset" by news of the Honduran escapees and complained that local officials deserve better notification from the state about who goes to his small city and under what circumstances.

    "Right now they authorize them, and we have no idea where they go," Riddell said. "Most of the people aren't even from San Bernardino County. They overload our school systems and bring in problems we don't need."
    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 6174.story
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  2. #2
    Senior Member legalatina's Avatar
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    Right now they authorize them, and we have no idea where they go," Riddell said. "Most of the people aren't even from San Bernardino County. They overload our school systems and bring in problems we don't need.

    You think? These sanctuary policies are dangerous and completely irresponsible. Now it's coming back to bite them. Good.

  3. #3
    Senior Member azwreath's Avatar
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    And to think that I just heard on the news that Newsome is planning to run for governor of the state of CA.

    Good God, can you imagine what HE would do that state?
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  4. #4
    Senior Member SOSADFORUS's Avatar
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    If Newsome becomes California's next governor it will be the straw that breaks the camels back.....you can kiss that state good-by.....I have held our hope for Calif. but this is very bad news!!
    Please support ALIPAC's fight to save American Jobs & Lives from illegal immigration by joining our free Activists E-Mail Alerts (CLICK HERE)

  5. #5
    Senior Member azwreath's Avatar
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    [quote="SOSADFORUS"]If Newsome becomes California's next governor it will be the straw that breaks the camels back.....you can kiss that state good-by.....I have held our hope for Calif. but this is very bad news!![/quote]





    Morning SoSad!!!

    I agree, it is bad news. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
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  6. #6
    Senior Member SOSADFORUS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by azwreath
    Quote Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS
    If Newsome becomes California's next governor it will be the straw that breaks the camels back.....you can kiss that state good-by.....I have held our hope for Calif. but this is very bad news!![/quote]





    Morning SoSad!!!

    I agree, it is bad news. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
    Morning "wreath" I know, how sad for that state, so glad I don't live there any longer, although Idaho does have its idiots
    Please support ALIPAC's fight to save American Jobs & Lives from illegal immigration by joining our free Activists E-Mail Alerts (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7
    Senior Member azwreath's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS
    Quote Originally Posted by azwreath
    Quote Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS
    If Newsome becomes California's next governor it will be the straw that breaks the camels back.....you can kiss that state good-by.....I have held our hope for Calif. but this is very bad news!![/quote]





    Morning SoSad!!!

    I agree, it is bad news. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
    Morning "wreath" I know, how sad for that state, so glad I don't live there any longer, although Idaho does have its idiots




    Idaho may have it's idiots, but we've got McCain........bet he beats all your idiots combined
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  8. #8
    Senior Member SOSADFORUS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by azwreath
    Quote Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS
    Quote Originally Posted by azwreath
    Quote Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS
    If Newsome becomes California's next governor it will be the straw that breaks the camels back.....you can kiss that state good-by.....I have held our hope for Calif. but this is very bad news!![/quote]





    Morning SoSad!!!

    I agree, it is bad news. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
    Morning "wreath" I know, how sad for that state, so glad I don't live there any longer, although Idaho does have its idiots




    Idaho may have it's idiots, but we've got McCain........bet he beats all your idiots combined
    Sorry, I can not find any argument on that one, you are 100% correct. And I am so sorry for you and AZ.
    Please support ALIPAC's fight to save American Jobs & Lives from illegal immigration by joining our free Activists E-Mail Alerts (CLICK HERE)

  9. #9
    Senior Member azwreath's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS
    Quote Originally Posted by azwreath
    Quote Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS
    Quote Originally Posted by azwreath
    Quote Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS
    If Newsome becomes California's next governor it will be the straw that breaks the camels back.....you can kiss that state good-by.....I have held our hope for Calif. but this is very bad news!![/quote]





    Morning SoSad!!!

    I agree, it is bad news. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
    Morning "wreath" I know, how sad for that state, so glad I don't live there any longer, although Idaho does have its idiots




    Idaho may have it's idiots, but we've got McCain........bet he beats all your idiots combined
    Sorry, I can not find any argument on that one, you are 100% correct. And I am so sorry for you and AZ.







    LOL......."in lieu of flowers the citizens of AZ request that donations be made to ALIPAC"
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  10. #10
    Senior Member SOSADFORUS's Avatar
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    LMAO!!
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