Prosecutions may result from city's sanctuary policy of harboring convicted felons

August 19, 11:38 PMSF Politics ExaminerArthur Bruzzone

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA --- This week's defiant stance by the city's Immigration Rights Commission on illegal felons couldn't have come at the worst time.  It's not just the anger and contempt heaped on the city for the Commission's defiance of federal laws.  More seriously, the U.S. Attorney's Northern District Office has an ongoing investigation that could lead to the prosecution of individuals responsible for the original blunder  -- a policy of flying  illegal felon teens out of the country or secretly housing them in unlocked Southern California facilities. 

Like with the much publicized case of former San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew, the U.S. Attorney's Office is judiciously quiet about the investigation's progress.

U.S. Attorney Joe Russinello has publicly stated that if his office finds that immigration laws were broken, individuals will be prosecuted.  He indicated to me that while it's his office's policy in all investigations not to give progress reports, he remains firm in his stance that the practice of the city's Juvenile Department, and presumably now, the Immigration Rights Commission's public recommendations, are in conflict with federal statutes. 

U.S. Attorney Russinello believes the city has halted the multimillion dollar program of harboring illegal felons.  He stated that his office would have filed an injunction if the Juvenile Department had continued their program. The Mayor's Office has since directed the juvenile probation to turn over juvenile felons to federal immigration authorities.  The Immigration Rights Commission ignored the new policy, and recommended that the city provide resources for placing the youths in "culturally appropriate" community programs approved by the juvenile court system.  This is akin to harboring illegal immigrants.

Russinello would not estimate when his office's investigation would be completed nor if it will result in federal charges against individuals who illegally harbored youth offenders under the city's Juvenile Department auspices.  But as the Ed Jew case showed, while it may be several months to complete the investigation,  the U. S. Attorney Office will prosecute if the evidence warrants it.