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San Francisco has long regarded itself as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. It is official policy there not to report people for being in the country illegally. But now city leaders are at odds over what to do about juvenile immigrants who've been accused of serious crimes, as NPR's Richard Gonzales reports.
RICHARD GONZALES: San Francisco's sanctuary policy dates back to the late 1980s when officials tried to keep Central American war refugees from being deported. Those wars are over, but the policy remains in effect, and city Supervisor David Campos says shielding immigrants from deportation benefits San Franciscans too.
Mr. DAVID CAMPOS (Member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors): If you are the victim of a crime, and an undocumented person was a witness to that crime, you want that undocumented person to come forward and report what they saw to the police. They're not going to come forward if they're afraid that the police will report them to immigration.
GONZALES: But the sanctuary policy came under fire last year when an illegal immigrant with a juvenile criminal record was accused of murdering a family of three in a deadly drive-by shooting. If the alleged shooter had been an adult, San Francisco would have reported him to federal authorities, but because he was a minor, immigration was never called. After a public outcry, Mayor Gavin Newsom stiffened the policy and ordered city officials to turn over to the feds all undocumented juveniles accused of a felony. Since last summer, that number reached more than 160, says the mayor.
Mayor GAVIN NEWSOM (San Francisco, California): A sanctuary city was never designed to be a framework where people can commit crimes and be shielded. I mean, that's perverse. It's absurd. And the most people I talk to understand that. And these are kids that have committed felonies.
GONZALES: But immigration advocates here say kids who are merely accused of a crime but are ultimately found innocent are being deported.
Supervisor David Campos:
Mr. CAMPOS: There is a public safety need to report people who engage in criminal conduct but at the same time recognizes that there is the very basic principle that in this country, you are innocent until proven guilty.
GONZALES: Campos himself is a naturalized citizen who came to this country illegally when he was a teenager. He says undocumented kids accused of a crime should be reported to the feds but only after a felony conviction, not before, and Campos has the support of a majority of its fellow supervisors.
Last week before a cheering crowd of immigration advocates, mothers and high school students, the Board of Supervisors changed the law, in effect shielding immigrant minors unless they are convicted of a felony.
(Soundbite of applause)
GONZALES: That set up a showdown with the mayor, who almost immediately vetoed the new measure. Newsom says it's unenforceable because it violates federal law, and he fears it will invite a legal challenge to the city's sanctuary ordinance.
Mayor NEWSOM: I believe in the sanctuary ordinance. I wanted to promote it within the diverse communities that were impacted, but we've never promoted it and never believed that it's a way to shield criminal behavior. Quite the contrary, once you start doing that, you put the whole thing at risk, terrible mistake, and this board has made that terrible mistake.
GONZALES: But Supervisor Campos says San Francisco's liberal legacy is at stake.
Mr. CAMPOS: We have been a sanctuary city now for 20 years and, in fact, we have stood for protection of civil rights where we have not been afraid to do the right thing even in the face of a legal challenge.
GONZALES: Campos and the other supervisors will likely overturn Mayor Newsom's veto next week. Still, Newsom insists he'll ignore the Board of Supervisors, and he's ordered city employees to continue reporting to the feds any undocumented kids arrested for a felony.
Richard Gonzales, NPR News, San Francisco.
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