Yee Slams Federal Immigration Legislation
San Francisco Chronicle, 4/8/06
By Leslie Fulbright
A cross-section of elected officials, religious leaders and immigrant-rights advocates in San Francisco is vowing not to comply with proposed legislation that would criminalize living in the United States illegally and make helping undocumented immigrants a felony.
Mayor Gavin Newsom said the city will not cooperate with any federal attempt to criminalize illegal immigration. "This is a city of refuge," Newsom said at a press conference Thursday. "San Francisco stands in strong opposition of the rhetoric coming out of Washington, D.C."
San Francisco's 17-year-old status as a "city of refuge" remains in effect, the mayor said, meaning that city employees cannot work with federal authorities to enforce U.S. immigration law. The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution this month that expands the city's position, barring any assistance in enforcing proposed criminal provisions in federal immigration law.
Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, on Friday announced a new multifaith delegation of Bay Area religious leaders to protest the proposed legislation, which, he said, "not only unfairly discriminates against many people in our community, but it criminalizes churches, mosques and temples for the good work they are doing."
Yee said he has drafted a state resolution to declare California's opposition to "such anti-immigrant, anti-worker federal legislation."
The bill drawing fire, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December, criminalizes "illegal presence" in the United States and the provision of any kind of aid to illegal immigrants. It also proposes building new fences along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, requiring businesses to verify the status of workers, restricting court review of immigration decisions to a single jurisdiction and deputizing local sheriffs along the border to arrest illegal immigrants.
A big concern is the section that would make it criminal to aid undocumented immigrants, which some immigrant rights groups say could be translated into handing out groceries at a food bank, providing medical care or babysitting.
Immigration reform has been the subject of intense debate over the past two weeks as the U.S. Senate considers its own proposal. The Senate's bill, which didn't pass before a recess Friday, is much less punitive and provides a path to legal residency for many illegal immigrants.
While the two drastically different approaches are debated, fear remains in immigrant communities that undocumented residents could be considered felons, as well as the people who help them.
"The way the House bill is written, doctors providing medical care could be put in jail," said Philip Hwang, an attorney with San Francisco's Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. "This is of tremendous concern to our office, to the community and throughout California."
Cities throughout the state -- including San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego -- instituted sanctuary laws in the 1980s that prevent city employees from asking immigration status or cooperating with federal officials attempting to enforce federal laws.
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris recently signed a newspaper ad denouncing "anti-immigrant proposals."
"The D.A. opposes any measure that would criminalize assisting immigrants," said Bilen Mesfin, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office. "We are a sanctuary city, a city of refuge, and we always will be."
Eileen Hurst, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, said her office is currently bound by the sanctuary ordinance, but that could change with new legislation.
"It is highly speculative at this point," Hurst said. "If it passed, we would seek the advice of the city attorney in implementing it."
Some church leaders who provide services to immigrants have been vocal in their opposition as well.
The Rev. Kay Jorgensen of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco said, "Immigrants are contributing to the health and well-being of our communities, while living under the pressures of immigration laws that threaten their own well-being.
"People of faith must break down the barriers that cause poverty and suffering, not to help build them through harsh legislation."
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