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.

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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.