SF supes refuse to help immigration authorities, say feds can act without sanctuary exception

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco policymakers said they will not be bullied by federal homeland security officials into weakening their sanctuary city policies.

At their weekly Tuesday meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 that a request from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to assist federal immigration authorities was not a legal requirement. The decision further reinforces the city's sanctuary protections for undocumented residents.

After two suspects accused of murder and rape in San Francisco were found abroad, homeland security officials told the District Attorney's Office in February that they would only extradite the suspects if the city made an exception to its sanctuary city policies.

The suspects, located in Mexico, are wanted in two separate cases -- one for a domestic violence murder, and the other for the sexual abuse of minors.

The agency said that if or when the suspects are released from custody, they would have to be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to the resolution's text passed Tuesday. 

Complying with those requests would defy the city's sanctuary city ordinance, which was first passed in 1989.

City officials said they do not have to comply with this pressure, arguing that the federal department has enough funds and power to extradite the suspects without imposing a lengthy, controversial process onto the city. The resolution urges DHS to extradite the suspects "without further delay."

In response to the passed ordinance, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins dropped her exception requests on Wednesday. She said she understood how sacred the sanctuary city policy is for the community, and that these protections should not inhibit the federal government from working with the city on pursuing justice.

She called on the federal government to expedite the transportation of the wanted suspects so they can be held accountable for their alleged crimes.

"My priority is delivering justice for these families who have been waiting years," Jenkins said. "Time is of the essence in these cases and the federal government, if it chooses to, can offer these families their best shot at seeing justice done."

The resolution cited a similar incident with DHS under the Trump Administration in 2019, when the department refused to extradite a suspect from Canada accused of sexual assault unless the city waived its sanctuary city policy. The department eventually extradited the man without the city having to violate its own laws.

"The Biden Administration and DHS are following in the Trump Administration's footsteps by again attempting to erode the San Francisco Sanctuary Ordinance, claiming that they will only extradite two accused individuals in two different criminal cases if the City waives the Sanctuary Ordinance, which is unnecessary for extradition," reads the resolution.

The decision followed a rally last week hosted by community leaders, labor groups and immigrant advocacy organizations, who said diluting the city's strong sanctuary city policies would weaken due process.

"We're glad that the board has rejected this cynical attempt from the federal government to extort our city government," said the FREE SF Coalition, a group that helped organized last week's rally. "As advocates for survivors of domestic violence have made clear, any collusion between law enforcement and DHS makes it harder for survivors to get the help they need."