Following last week’s murder of Kate Steinle at the hands of an unauthorized immigrant in San Francisco, the principal evening newscasts of the nation’s top two Spanish-language networks, Univision and Telemundo, acknowledged the controversy over so-called “sanctuary cities.” However, on July 7th both networks provided one-sided reports that only featured supporters of the controversial policy that made it possible for Francisco López-Sánchez, a seven-time convicted felon and five-time deportee, to kill Steinle.
Telemundo interviewed Freya Horne, from the San Francisco’s Sheriff’s office, who defended the decision to ignore a request from immigration authorities to detain the suspect because compliance is “voluntary.” Another Telemundo interviewee simply said the murder was the fault of someone with a gun, not the sanctuary city.
UNIDENTIFIED INTERVIEWEE: It was the fault of a person with a weapon, not the fault of the sanctuary city.
CRISTINA LONDONO, CORRESPONDENT:The sanctuary policy of the city, by which law enforcement officials do not cooperate with immigration, this assemblyman says, protects the whole community and it shouldn’t be sacrificed.
And the end of her report, Telemundo’s Cristina Londoño cited a statement from Sen. Dianne Feinstein criticizing Lopez’s release. For its part, an unidentified legal expert on Univision dismissed the notion of San Francisco’s duty to comply with immigration laws, citing court rulings that, as she explained it, make it illegal to detain the suspect.
Nevertheless, suspect López-Sánchez admitted he came to San Francisco after being deported because he knew San Francisco’s “sanctuary” policy shields him from deportation. Moreover, according to Heritage scholar, Hans von Spakovsky, in the article How San Francisco Aided and Abetted the Murder of Kate Steinle, it is not the first time this policy facilitates this kind of tragedy. Spakovsky references how a family was murdered by another criminal who was shielded from deportation by the city.
In addition, Spakovsky points out the follow alarming data: “ICE has released tens of thousands of dangerous, violent, criminal aliens, from murderers and drug dealers, to kidnappers and robbers, onto the streets—almost 70,000 in just the past two years.”
Update: On July 8, 2015, Univision aired criticism against San Francisco’s “sanctuary policy" from both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, including Hillary Clinton.
The relevant portions of the referenced national newscasts appears below:
Noticiero Telemundo 7/7/2015 6:30 PM
MARIA CELESTE ARRARAS, HOST: The murder of a woman by an undocumented Mexican in San Francisco, continues to fire the debate over sanctuary cities, like San Francisco, where local authorities are not required to cooperate with immigration. There are those who say that if it were not for this policy, the confessed murderer would have been deported and his victim today would be alive.
...
UNIDENTIFIED INTERVIEWEE: It was the fault of a person with a weapon, not the fault of the sanctuary city.
...
CRISTINA LONDONO, CORRESPONDENT: A retention request is voluntary, Freya Horne (Chief Counsel, Office of San Francisco Sheriff) told me. They know the policy of this city and know they have to produce a judicial order or an arrest warrant for us to detain him.
DAVID CAMPOS, SAN FRANCISCO CITY COUNCILMAN: We have seen cases that have been solved because undocumented immigrants are not afraid to report a crime to police.
CRISTINA LONDONO: The sanctuary policy of the city, by which law enforcement officials do not cooperate with immigration, this assemblyman says, protects the whole community and it shouldn’t be sacrificed.
Noticiero Univisión 7/7/2015 6:30 PM
LUIS MEGID, CORRESPONDENT: Although Sanchez had five previous deportations and numerous drug convictions, the sheriff says the city could not legally retain him. And not because it is a sanctuary city. Legal experts say the federal courts have made it clear.
LEGAL EXPERT: We already have court rulings that say a local official can’t detain someone for immigration without a signed order from a judge. That is very important in order to follow the Constitution.
