Sometimes, those of us left in the common sense majority ask how things could go so wrong – how consensually accepted notions of justice could be scuttled so quickly—how respect for the rule of law could have fallen so low—that a major American city would find it acceptable to provide safe passage to an illegal alien who had been deported on five previous occasions.
Such is the reality check presented in the matter of thirty-two-year-old Kate Steinle, the mother of two brutally gunned down by one Francisco Sanchez, a Mexican citizen living freely on the streets because of San Francisco’s self-proclaimed “sanctuary” status—a state of affairs that mandates lack of cooperation with federal officials charged with enforcing the country’s immigration laws because…they…can.
The murder generated the usual and expected public outcry, though it was mostly confined to Republican and conservative commentators and politicians. What, you thought MSNBC would moralize about its favorite progressive mecca?
Which brings us to a remarkable place in the evolution of progressivism in the good ole’ USA: one of our two political parties is no longer concerned with immigration law. Indeed, many of its elected officials go to great lengths to distance themselves from it and then market their non-compliance to politically active “immigrants’ rights” groups. You may recognize practitioners of the art by their willingness to characterize calls for border enforcement as “anti-immigrant” or “nativist”.
On the progressive side of the political universe, it’s as though federal immigration law has been reduced to a discretionary set of suggestions to be either followed or ignored by the dictates of local office holders. And of all the sanctuary cities in the country, the Democratic city of San Francisco occupies a special place in its disdain for U.S. sovereignty.
The facts of the Sanchez case speak directly to the hubris of the city’s progressive leadership. You see, Mr. Sanchez was released from federal custody (wherein he was serving time for entering the country after deportation) and turned over to the San Francisco sheriff pursuant to an outstanding criminal warrant. Alas, the San Francisco district attorney declined to prosecute because the warrant was a decade old drug possession charge. But this is not the gravamen of the outrage. You see, ICE had previously filed a detainer requesting it be notified if the city intended to release Mr. Sanchez—a dangerous alien repeat offender. But San Francisco authorities failed to honor the detainer. Kate Steinle’s murder was a horrific consequence of this premeditated and conscious failure.
The city’s uber-progressive leadership shows no signs of retreating from its lawless policy. It’s as if a certain level of collateral damage is discounted in order to maintain itself as the center of the sensitivity universe.
In the real world, however, there are calls to boycott sanctuary jurisdictions and even cut off federal funding.
I am far from convinced that the successful execution of these sanctions will change (bleeding) hearts and minds. Recall these are the politicians who long ago decided that repeated illegal re-entry into the country was a “no coun.” But now they are confronted with a far deeper level of condemnation attendant to Kate Steinle and other innocents hurt or killed by people who have no business being in the country in the first place.
Maybe, just maybe, law abiding Americans now finding themselves on the wrong end of the sanctuary city scam are beginning to care – and to count the victims. This status quo is unacceptable. An empathetic but law-abiding people must ensure that Kate Steinle’s death is not in vain–the ruminations and excuse-making of the usual suspects notwithstanding.
Time to get a serious grip in the city by the bay.
Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. served as Maryland Governor from 2003-2007. He is currently a Partner at the firm of King & Spalding.
