San Francisco Changes Immigration Policy

In a vote that took place today, October 20, 2009, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors changed the city policy that required local law enforcement to contact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials every time a juvenile is arrested on felony charges who they suspect is illegal. The policy took effect in summer of 2008 and since then more than 100 juveniles have been turned over to immigration.  The new policy requires police to notify immigration only after the juvenile is convicted. Since 1989, San Francisco has been known as a sanctuary city for its policy of protecting juvenile offenders. The city’s sanctuary policy has been challenged many times over the last two decades.