A sanctuary city is one that has policies to shelter illegal immigrants. San Francisco is one of the cities around the United States that has designated itself a sanctuary city, but there is talk that its policies were ineffective when it came to the shooting of Kathryn Steinle on July 1st committed by Mexican immigrant Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez.
Lopez-Sanchez was in a San Francisco County Jail earlier this year. He had previously been deported 5 times and had snuck back into the United States. The belief by people who dislike San Francisco’s policy is that Lopez-Sanchez should have been deported again and not been allowed back in the United States, and then the homicide would have been avoided.
The sanctuary laws in San Francisco are aimed at separating federal immigration enforcement from the local police force. The intent of the laws are to make sure that illegal immigrants do not fear deportation by local police officers. But the laws were not intended to protect criminal immigrants.
To people who do not support the way San Francisco has made itself a sanctuary city, it is hoped that the crime committed by Lopez-Sanchez will make San Francisco reconsider their policy.