It has been over a month now since the tragic, senseless, and preventable murder on Pier 14 of the young and innocent Kate Steinle. The POA took a position on this early on, before anyone else, and I stand by what I said. For that, I have received a number of hate emails and voice messages labeling me as a racist and the POA has an anti immigration organization. That is simply not the case; so let's talk about the facts.
I will say it again loudly and clearly, the accused murderer of Kate Steinle is an ILLEGAL ALIEN. He has been deported from the United States five times. He is a seven time convicted felon in this country, and is on active probation out of the state of Texas. He is not an undocumented immigrant worker. There is a huge difference. Francisco Sanchez was not in this country trying to find a pathway to citizenship. He was not working in this country trying to better himself or provide for his family. He was not contributing anything productive to the community or society as a whole. By all accounts, Sanchez was only in this country to sell drugs and take advantage of the system. If Sanchez were where he should have been, in his country of origin (Mexico), then Kate Steinle would be alive today.
As I said in my original statement, the finger pointing has started. Well it is in full swing now. Every local politician is ducking for cover, hiding under a rock, or trying to justify their position. Public Defender Jeff Adachi is speaking for the accused murderer Sanchez. Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi is speaking on and pathetically trying to defend his ridiculous internal policy that tied the hands of his own agency and prevented the Sheriff's Department from cooperating with federal authorities. Supervisors Avalos and Supervisor Campos are speaking on and defending the 2013 legislation that afforded Sanchez to be released on the streets rather than be deported for a sixth time. My question is, who is speaking for Kate? Right now it only appears to be her own grieving family, including her heartbroken father who witnessed his own daughter’s painful death.
Outside of Supervisor Mark Farrell, most local politicians are shying away from solutions. They must realize that something is wrong, but they are failing or refusing to offer solutions. The current Sanctuary City policy needs to be amended. The original ordinance adopted in the late 1980's offered sanctuary to those who had fled their countries due to persecution based on political or religious beliefs, along with those being persecuted for sexual orientation. It also afforded assurances to these immigrants that their immigration status would not be questioned simply for cooperating with law enforcement. We in law enforcement, more than anyone, know the importance of having the cooperation from all of the public, and I for one support those guidelines of the original ordinance. Now with the amendments put forward in 2013 by Supervisor Avalos, and the further restrictive internal policy put forward by Sheriff Mirkarimi, the current Sanctuary City policy offers a shield to criminals who know that they can hide behind this policy and avoid further deportation. Even Sanchez admitted in a jailhouse interview that he knew he would not be deported from San Francisco.
This article is about fixing the local sanctuary policy. Immigration reform is a different topic that needs to be addressed on a federal level by the United States government.
The senseless murder of Kate Steinle has sparked a movement in this country. There have been on-line signature campaigns that have gathered hundred of thousand signatures for "Kate’s Law." The father of Kate has testified before members of the United States Senate, and the United States House of Representatives. Senator Dianne Feinstein is now considering moving on legislation that forces local authorities to, at a minimum, contact ICE regarding convicted felons who have previously been deported. The House has just passed a bill to not fully-fund sanctuary cities, but there is still little or no movement on a local level to correct the wrongs of the Sanctuary City legislation. Based on the current makeup of the Board of Supervisors, I seriously doubt that any proposed legislation from Supervisor Farrell would even gain the six votes needed to pass, so I am not confident that this city will get this one right.
Out of the 300 plus sanctuary cities in this country, why is it that San Francisco has had four innocent victims murdered in cold blood, in the past eight years, by illegal aliens who should not have been here in the first place? This does not happen in other Sanctuary Cities. Why is that? The City that claims that it knows how? Well they got it wrong again. This city should have learned it lesson in 2008 with the brutal murders of three members of the Bologna family by an illegal alien. The elected officials did nothing then to correct the flaws in the Sanctuary City policy. Will they correct them now, or do we need further senseless deaths of innocent victims? Anthony Bologna, Michael Bologna, Matthew Bologna, and Kate Steinle deserve better from San Francisco. Will the elected officials deliver? We will all wait and see by their action or lack of action.
May Anthony, Michael, Matthew, and Kate all rest in peace.
Slainte!
