SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – San Francisco officials plan to take another run at clarifying sanctuary protections for people who are in the country illegally, a policy that landed the city in national hot water last year when a Mexican man shot and killed a woman walking along a waterfront pier.
The Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal Tuesday that spells out when law enforcement can turn over criminal suspects to federal immigration authorities.
The measure calls for law officers to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement only if a defendant is charged with a violent crime and has been convicted of a violent crime within the last seven years. That would be the only time city workers, including police officers, could disclose immigration status.
But San Francisco’s sheriff has resisted the limitation, saying that she wants greater discretion over what is a relatively small pool of detainees. The sheriff, as a constitutionally elected official, does not have to follow the board’s orders.
The measure’s chief sponsor, Supervisor John Avalos, postponed a vote on the ordinance earlier this month, saying that he wanted everyone on the same page.