AP
July 7, 2015
Lawmakers
criticized federal officials Tuesday for failing to deport an immigrant
with multiple felony convictions and an outstanding drug warrant who
allegedly went on
to murder a woman in San Francisco.
“He
had a criminal warrant but was released into the general society to
commit a murder. Does that make any sense to you?” Sen. Ron Johnson (R.,
Wis.), who chairs the
Senate’s homeland security committee, demanded to know at a hearing.
“Because I’ll tell you it doesn’t make any sense to the American
public.”
Philip
Miller, an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
blamed San Francisco, saying officials there didn’t honor a federal
request, known as a “detainer,”
to keep Francisco Sanchez in custody.
The
shooting has sparked a debate about the extent to which local law
enforcement and federal immigration authorities should cooperate. Read
more:
Mr.
Sanchez, who is from Mexico and is in the U.S. illegally, allegedly
shot and killed 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle last week as she was
sightseeing with her father along
a popular pier in San Francisco.
“In that particular case our detainer was not honored,” Mr. Miller said.
Also
Tuesday, a law-enforcement official briefed on the matter said the gun
used in the seemingly random slaying belonged to a federal agent.
The
official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the case and
spoke on condition of anonymity, said a police check of the weapon’s
serial number shows it belonged
to a federal agent. The official declined to elaborate further.
Mr.
Sanchez pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder. Mr. Sanchez
told two television stations he found the gun wrapped in a shirt on the
pier.
San
Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi has defended his office’s decision
regarding the federal detainer request, saying ICE should have issued an
arrest warrant. Mr. Miller
declined after the hearing to comment on that assertion.
“ICE
knew that he had been deported five times,” Mr. Mirkarimi said. “You
would have thought he met a threshold that he required a court order or a
warrant. They did not
do that.”
San
Francisco is one of dozens of cities and counties across the country
that don’t fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The
city goes so far as to promote
itself as a “sanctuary” for people in the country illegally.
Mayor
Ed Lee issued a statement saying city policy was never intended to
protect “repeat, serious and violent felons.” He asked for federal and
local agencies to review
what happened.
Ms.
Steinle’s death has offered ammunition to GOP critics of Obama
administration policies, including presidential hopeful Donald Trump,
who has cited it to justify his
claims that many immigrants entering the country illegally are
criminals.
At
the same time it plays into a larger, politically charged immigration
debate between federal authorities and local jurisdictions.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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