Sunday, March 11, 2018

San Francisco leaders see big benefits in sanctuary. Trump administration sees danger

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:
San Francisco prosecutors had a problem. They’d charged a suspect in a beating, but the key witness refused to testify, putting the case in jeopardy.

Then came a break that prosecutors credited to good luck as well as the city’s pro-immigrant sanctuary laws — which restrict cooperation between local authorities and federal deportation agents and have come under increasing fire from the Trump administration.


When prosecutors went back to the scene of the 2016 crime, they found another witness. The man, though, was undocumented and hesitant to come forward to testify, until he was assured that his status would not be shared with federal officials, said District Attorney George Gascón.

The city’s sanctuary ordinance “helps us in many ways and gives us access to witnesses and victims we would never have otherwise,” said Gascón, who noted that the case ended with a conviction for assault with a deadly weapon. “It allows us to break down cycles of violence, especially domestic violence.”
When your legal case depends on .... illegals....