The San Francisco sheriff whose sanctuary cities policy allowed an illegal alien criminal to run free and slaughter a 32-year-old woman earlier this year was tossed out of office by a massive landslide.
Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, 54, was defeated by Vicki Hennessy, a former sheriff’s official who had the endorsement of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and the sheriff deputies association. As of early Wednesday morning, Hennessy had received 62 percent of the vote to just 31 percent for Mirkarimi.
Mirkarimi was the subject of national criticism after Mexican illegal immigrant Francisco Sanchez allegedly shot and killed 32-year-old Kate Steinle on San Francisco’s waterfront July 1. Sanchez had been released from Mirkarimi’s jail in March even though federal immigration officials had requested he be detained for possible deportation.
Although Mirkarimi’s reign as San Francisco’s sheriff has been marred by internal and personal scandals, the main issue in the election was his rabid defense of sanctuary city policy and how it has made San Francisco less safe.
San Francisco declared itself a sanctuary city in 1989, passing an ordinance that bans city officials from enforcing immigration laws or asking about immigration status unless required by law or court order. A follow-up ordinance in 2013 allows detention only under a court order targeting violent felons. Last month, San Francisco’s board of supervisors unanimously approved a resolution to maintain the city’s sanctuary status.
San Francisco and other cities and counties have routinely ignored requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to keep people in custody. The jurisdictions say they can’t hold arrestees beyond their scheduled release dates without probable cause.
Hennessy has previously said the sheriff’s order barring the San Francisco jail from cooperating with immigration officials is misguided. There are cases, she said, when federal immigration officials should be notified that the jail is about to release an inmate who is in the country illegally.
If wierdly Far Left San Francisco can figure this out, perhaps there is hope for the rest of the country.
