Minutes after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors overrode Mayor Newsom’s veto of a practical policy to restore due process to undocumented youth, faith leaders and community members gathered for a ceremony to celebrate the passage and to urge the City to swiftly and effectively implement the policy change. At the gathering, Attorney Abigail Trillin read a statement on behalf of immigrant mother Maria (a pseudonym). The painful case of Maria’s 16-year old son, now facing deportation despite the DA’s decision not to file charges, highlights the urgent need to implement the reform.
“My son is a good boy . . . He goes to school and tries hard. He helps me at home.” Maria’s innocent son was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was mistakenly taken in by police. “He cooperated with the police because that is what I have always taught him,” Maria said. Even though the DA decided there was no evidence of any wrongdoing, Maria’s son was handed over to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and is now in a secure federal detention facility in Oregon. Addressing Mayor Newsom, Maria asked for a meeting, imploring “I want you to know about the innocent children who have been hurt by the current policy. I know you will do the right thing if you know what is happening to innocent children and their families.”
In response to the Mayor’s refusal to support implementation of the due process policy, Supervisor Campos said, “We are not ruling out litigation, but I once again extend an invitation to Mayor Newsom to meet publicly. Innocent children will continue be separated from their families as long as the legally sound due process proposal remains unimplemented.”
Bobbi Lopez of Tenderloin Housing Clinic’s La Voz Latina spoke on behalf of the community, “The over 35 organizations in the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Defense Committee are inspired by today’s vote to restore due process to all youth in our city. This is the result of a year-long community campaign to keep innocent immigrant children together with their families. We are proud to be engaged in the civic process, and to see our democracy at work, and we call on Mayor Newsom to respect the democratic process and immediately implement this sensible policy.”
Background: The new policy will be replacing a policy that requires juvenile probation officers to tear youth from their families and refer them to federal immigration authorities for deportation immediately after arrest – based merely on accusations of wrongdoing – without the basic right to a hearing in juvenile court. This draconian policy, implemented unilaterally by Mayor Newsom in July 2008, has sparked a firestorm of criticism from a growing alliance of immigrant and civil rights groups as it has led to increased discrimination against immigrant youth and their families. Statistics from the city’s Juvenile Probation Department demonstrate that the majority (68%) of youth who are arrested are later found to be innocent of the alleged charges. But under current policy, even youth later declared to be innocent by the District Attorney are reported for deportation. Thus far, San Francisco has reported about 160 youth to immigration authorities under the overly broad and inhumane policy.
On August 18th, eight members of the Board of Supervisors introduced a new policy to restore due process rights to all San Francisco youth. The policy would reduce referrals to immigration authorities by an estimated 50% by only allowing referral to ICE after a youth has received due process and is found to have committed a felony. A chorus of leading legal experts from the Yale, Stanford, UC Davis, and USF Law Schools has found the policy to restore due process to youth to be legally sound. Professor Bill Ong Hing of UC Davis and the University of San Francisco unequivocally told the Board’s Public Safety Committee on Oct. 5th: “There is nothing in federal and state law that would nullify the action that is in the current proposal.”
On October 27th, the Board of Supervisors passed the policy to restore due process to immigrant youth by a vote of 8-3, with Supervisors Campos, Avalos, Chiu, Daly, Dufty, Mar, Maxwell, and Mirkarimi in favor. Mayor Newsom vetoed the policy on Oct. 28 veto. The Board of Supervisors today overrode the veto and passed the policy in a final vote of 8-3. Hailed as a reasonable compromise between extremes, the due process amendment promises to keep innocent youth together with their families and also to boost public safety by creating a climate where immigrants who have been victims or witnesses to crimes feel safe coming forward to cooperate with law enforcement.
For more, see video: http://vimeo.com/7192066
