Pubdate: Thu, 03 Jul 2008 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Page: B - 6 Copyright: 2008 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Gavin+Newsom NO SANCTUARY FOR DRUG DEALERS Don't blame the kid-glove treatment of Honduran drug dealers on the 1989 ordinance that made San Francisco a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. That ordinance made it clear that there should be no sanctuary for immigrants accused of serious crimes. A 1994 memo from the city attorney's office to the probation department was even more specific: The exception to allow the prosecution of criminals would apply to "both adults and criminals" accused of felonies. The orgins of this outrageously lax treatment of young drug dealers - shielding them from federal immigration authorites, then flying them home to Honduras at city taxpayer expense - can be traced to the recommendations submitted to the juvenile court by San Francisco's juvenile probation department. The director of that department, William Siffermann, was appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom in 2005. Siffermann's department answers to the Juvenile Probation Commission. All six of its members were appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom. Newsom has been trying mightily to distance himself from the furor created by revelations that the city was giving juvenile drug dealers a plane ride home instead of a referral to the feds for deportation. The mayor can't have it both ways. On one hand, he said Tuesday: "I don't have the authority here. I have a bully pulpit. The courts have the authority here." At the same time, he has claimed credit for stopping the practice when he learned of it in mid-May. Then again, the city's Plan B was equally irresponsible: Eight convicted juvenile drug dealers from Honduras were sent to unsecured group homes in San Bernardino County - and they promptly escaped. District Attorney Kamala Harris does not emerge unscathed. Her prosecutors should have known that convicted drug dealers were being allowed to bypass deportation. If they did raise objections, they were ineffective. If they did not, then they were either unclear on the law or not looking out for the best interest of the city. Judge Donna Hitchens, head of San Francisco's juvenile courts, also must be held accountable. She tried to deflect responsibility by suggesting "we are only the judicial branch" and that the conflict was between the city and federal immigration authorities. But the courts clearly had the authority to reject the juvenile officers' recommendations. "The court has the ultimate authority - not a district attorney, not a juvenile probation officer and not a defense attorney," said retired San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp. "It's still you're responsibility - you're the judge - you don't have to go along with their recommendations. "They are all equally complicit." Both Newsom and Harris are now expressing their unequivocal objections to the notion of sending young drug dealers home at city expense. "We're going to fix this," Newsom vowed Wednesday. In fairness, the practice predates his tenure by at least two decades. Still, Newsom's appointed director of juvenile probation had the opportunity to change the policy. He did not. San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi defended the return flights as a practical and humane alternative to allowing federal authorities to take the Hondurans to one of the 18 detention centers, where they might be held for months with little or no contact with their families back home. "These kids aren't like Scarface, where they're mini-gangsters who are coming her to make millions of dollars," Adachi said. Most of these defendants, he said, are impoverished youth who are being exploited by traffickers. Yes, these young drug dealers should be sent home - but through the federal deportation process, which would seriously complicate their efforts to return to this country. The purpose of the 1989 sanctuary ordinance was to help lift a pall of fear and uncertainty among people who may have come here illegally, but now live within the law. Those who come here to deal drugs should experience both fear and a certainty that they will be subject to deportation. [sidebar] WHAT IS THE LAW? San Francisco's 'Sanctuary Ordinance' The city's Sanctuary Ordinance does not prohibit the city from alerting federal authorities when an undocumented immigrant has been booked in connection with felony allegations. A 1994 memorandum from the city attorney's office to the probation department made clear that "this exception applied to both adults and juveniles." State Law on Juvenile Court Records While juvenile court records are presumed confidential, state law does allow exceptions for state and federal law enforcement agencies, school systems, probation departments and the California Youth Authority "if that agency is investigating criminal or juvenile proceedings involving the child." Federal Immigration Law The city is not required to turn over information about juvenile detainees. However, under federal law, it would be a crime for any person "in knowing or reckless disregard of the fact that an alien is illegally in the U.S." to "conceal, harbor or shield" the immigrant or to "transport, move or attempt to move" the immigrant within the United States. Source: A July 1, 2008, Memo to Mayor Gavin Newsom from City Attorney Dennis Herrera's office. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake