NBC News
By Suzanne Gamboa
July 9, 2015
Hillary
Clinton's campaign sought to make clear she supports sanctuary cities
following criticism on San Francisco's release of an immigrant here
illegally who is accused
of shooting and killing a woman.
"Hillary
Clinton believes that sanctuary cities can help further public safety,
and she has defended those policies going back years," said Xochitl
Hinojosa, a campaign
spokeswoman, in a statement made public Thursday. "As she made clear,
this particular individual should not have been on the streets...She
believes that we need a system where people like this don't fall through
the cracks and that is why she continues to
fight for comprehensive immigration reform."
Clinton,
a Democrat, weighed in on the sanctuary city issue after comments from
Republican candidate Donald Trump following a fatal shooting in San
Francisco. Juan Francisco
Lopez Sanchez, accused of shooting Kathryn Steinle, had re-entered the
country several times after deportations, raising questions about
policies of cities like San Francisco to leave immigration enforcement
to federal officials. Some cities with this sort
of policy are called sanctuary cities.
Asked
in a CNN interview about the shooting, Clinton said, "The city made a
mistake not to deport someone that the federal government strongly felt
should be deported."
But
she went on to add that if an immigrant is picked up for a traffic
violation or misdemeanor - and has no criminal record - that is entirely
different.
Clinton's
support for sanctuary cities is in line with immigration advocates as
well as some of the nation's elected and law enforcement officials who
believe that there
is better cooperation with the police among communities if immigration
enforcement is left primarily to federal authorities. Though sanctuary
policies differ among cities, these include New York City, Houston and
Chicago.
Opponents
of sanctuary cities say it can result in protection for illegal
activity, and several Republican candidates have made it clear this week
they do not support
them. Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush said Wednesday in New
Hampshire, "We ought to eliminate sanctuary cities" and said federal law
enforcement money should be withheld until the city changes these
policies.
On
Tuesday, speaking in the Laura Ingraham show, Republican Senator Rand
Paul said immigration laws are "...being flouted and basically laughed
at by cities like San Francisco…
They're ought to be a revolution of folks saying, 'We want you to obey
the law,' and making sure the president hears them loud and clear."
The
political wrangling over immigration enforcement among the candidates
comes the same week the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is to hear
arguments in a lawsuit filed
by 26 states against the Obama administration over his executive action
creating programs, now stymied by the suit, to shield millions of
immigrants here illegally from deportation.
Clinton
has said she strongly support Obama's executive actions and plans to
expand on them, while Republican candidates have opposed them saying it
should be Congress
changing immigration directives.
As
part of executive actions, the Department of Homeland Security has
sought to refine its deportation policies so that immigration
enforcement resources are focused on
the worst criminals and those who present a public safety or national
security threat. The Obama administration also has had a long-term
policy of making those who re-enter the country after they've been
deported under order a priority for deportation and
prosecution, regardless of whether they've committed any other crime.
Lopez
Sanchez, the immigrant accused of killing Steinle, was deported to
Mexico five times between June 1994 and June 2009 and served about 15
years in prison over three
separate incarcerations for those illegal re-entry convictions,
according to The Associated Press.
He
had completed his latest sentence in March and was to be turned over to
the San Francisco Sheriff's Office on a 20-year-old marijuana
possession charge, but local prosecutors
dropped the charge and the sheriff's office released him under the
city's sanctuary policy. At the time, Immigration and Customs
Enforcement had asked that he be held for deportation, the AP reported.
Federal
officials have said the gun belonged to a U.S. Bureau of Land
Management ranger and had been stolen in a break-in of the ranger's car.
Lopez Sanchez has told media
he found the gun and it accidentally went off.
Deportations
are an issue that have been troublesome for President Barack Obama and
has at times rocked his relationship with some Latino and immigrant
leaders. It was
not too long ago when the president of the National Council of La Raza -
to whom Clinton will speak next week - called Obama the "deporter in
chief."
But
some supporters of immigration reform in law enforcement have also
tried to limit their role in immigration enforcement to ensure trust in
immigrant communities so
they report crimes and assist as witnesses.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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