Santuary City Fight Won't Really Get Dicey Until The Holidays

In news of the expected, the Board of Supervisors passed a new sanctuary city law proposed by Supervisor David Campos.

Under the ordinance, law enforcement will be required to notify federal immigration authorities about suspected undocumented youths only after conviction of a felony or grand jury indictment as an adult for a felony. Presently, such notification takes place at the time of arrest.

The measure passed with a vote of 8-2, with Supervisors Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu voting no. (Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier was not at Tuesday’s meeting, but had voted against the ordinance in committee.)

People on both sides of the sanctuary city debate are all fired up about this development, but no one should expect a policy change any time soon.

First, board rules require that the law be voted on a second time next Tuesday. (Don’t ask why — just trust me on this.) Second, Mistermayor has 10 days to veto the ordinance, which his spokesman Joe Arellano confirmed he will do. The board then has 30 days to override that veto, and with eight solid votes in favor of the ordinance, you can bet that will happen well before the deadline. Finally, local laws go into effect 30 days after a veto override, so it will be around mid-December before any changes could happen. (Board Rules 2.18, 2.18.3, and 2.20 referenced. pdf. of Board Rules here: Download Board of Supervisors Rules of Order.)   

Given the mayor’s stated opposition to enforcing the law once it is finally on the books, there will surely be fireworks. Just in time for the new year.

QUOTE OF THE MEETING:

While we have done what we could on plastic bags so far at this tier, I believe that we now need to tackle paper bags.

- Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi is introducing legislation to require a 10 cent rebate for each person who uses their own bag when purchasing items from those stores already subject to the plastic bag ban. Tackling paper bags sounds fun! I smell a flash mob...

[No, I don't know why this got so effed up in the print version]

-Melissa

Comments

[kurt thialfad]

I dunno but it seems to me that every illegal alien is a walking time bomb. He can't work, he can't remain in the country. The only way he can survive is in the underground economy, by breaking the rules. He has to steal a social security number, he has to 'rent' from a roommate, he can't drive, he works marginal, dangerous, even criminal (e.g drug salesman) jobs, etc. Eventually, he's going to rub up against the law, and get deported. Why prolong the agony? The sooner these folks are identified, and sent home, the better.
Am I being harsh?

[Be_devine]

@Kurt: you consider jobs like picking your food and building your home to be "marginal, dangerous, even criminal"? Wait til you see the price of a head of lettuce after you send every undocumented immigrant home.

In saying that "every illegal alien is a walking time bomb," you're not only being harsh, you're being ignorant. Go back to Lou Dobbs.

[Melissa Griffin]

@kurt, you bring up a good point about how hard it is for illegal aliens in this country. I think it begs the question: what is going on in their home country that is so awful that an underground life in the U.S. is preferable? I've always wished our immigration polices included more of that issue.

@Devine, of course you are right about our reliance on underground labor. It's why our immigration laws always include "guest worker" loopholes and such. I'm no economist, but my understanding is that sending all undocumented people back to their country of origin would be a devastating blow to this country's economy.

[Truff]

What laws do U.S. citizens get to ignore? Talk about political correctness run amok...