Border and Enforcement News

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has vowed to keep his city a sanctuary for immigrants by discouraging federal authorities from conducting immigration raids.  In a meeting with Latino San Franciscans and religious groups last month, Newsom told the group that while he cannot stop federal authorities from making arrests, he assured that no San Francisco employee will help with immigration enforcement.  

"I will not allow any of my department heads or anyone associated with this city to cooperate in any way shape or form with these raids," Newsom declared.  "We are a sanctuary city, make no mistake about that."  

The statement from Newsom is in response to raids conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  Since May 2006, ICE has stepped up raids across the country, including arrests in San Rafael , Oakland , Richmond and other cities in the Bay area.  Immigration officials said they were executing arrest warrants for immigrants who had committed crimes or were in the country illegally.  Of at least 65 suspected immigrants arrested in San Francisco last month, only five had been ordered deported.  

During the meeting, Profirio Quintano, an immigrant from Honduras , was one of many immigrants present who shared his encounter with immigration officials.  "We are victims," said Quintano, adding that his wife and two daughters, then ages 4 and 10, live in fear of another raid, even though all four family members are U.S. citizens.  "They were looking for somebody unrelated to us, but they lined us up against the wall and held us for an hour.  It was terrifying, especially for our daughters."  

Controversial CNN political talk show host Lou Dobbs drew fire from Jewish groups when he compared those who defended Newsom to Nazi propagandists. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society called on CNN to fire the anti-immigrant commentator.  

*****  

Federal authorities charged 22 people last week with being part of one of the nation’s largest operations to produced counterfeit identification.  The New York Times reports that the Chicago-area operation allowed customers willing to pay $200 to $300 could walk away with high-quality fraudulent documents, including driver’s licenses and Social Security Cards.  The operation was estimated to make annual profits of $3 million, producing documents for as many as 100 customers a day.   

Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney in charge of prosecution, said that the operation had turned violent; operation ringleader Julio Leija-Sanchez had conspired to kill two former members of the organization who had stolen equipment and planned to start their own operation elsewhere.  One of the two was killed in Mexico at Mr. Leija-Sanchez’s behest, and plans were under way to kill the other man at the time of the arrests.  

The raid has generated heat from some immigration rights advocates, who believe it was carried out to intimidate the immigrant community just days before a May 1 rally in Chicago on proposed changes in immigration policy.  "This has nothing to do with that," said Mr. Fitzgerald, who said the goal was to catch members of the ring in action during its business hours.  "We need to go where the criminal activity was carried out to catch them in the act."

Print This Page

Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.