San Francisco Killing Sparks Illegal Immigrant Detention Debate

The fatal shooting of a woman in San Francisco last week, allegedly by an illegal immigrant man convicted of seven felonies and previously deported to Mexico, has sparked a debate about the extent to which local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities should cooperate.

At issue is the Department of Homeland Security’s practice of seeking to identify potentially deportable individuals in jails or prisons nationwide by issuing a “detainer,” a request rather than an order to extend the individual’s detention.

Kathryn Steinle, 32 years old, was walking with her father along Pier 14 on the evening of July 1 when she was shot in her upper torso, police said. She later died at a hospital.

With the help of people who had snapped photos of him on their phones, police tracked down the suspect, Francisco Sanchez, 45, a few blocks away. Mr. Sanchez was booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of homicide.

...“Our officers lodged an immigration detainer asking to be notified before his release; that detainer was not honored,” said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice. “As a result, an individual with a lengthy criminal history, who is now the suspect in a tragic murder case, was released onto the street rather than being turned over to ICE for deportation.”

A San Francisco ordinance adopted in October 2013 “deemed him ineligible for extended detention” after the local charges were dismissed, the sheriff’s department said, adding that “detainers are requests and not a legal basis to hold an individual.”

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee called Ms. Steinle’s death “tragic and senseless,” while defending the city’s policies...

At least 300 localities, including San Francisco, in recent years have stopped honoring detainer requests due to concerns that individuals are remaining jailed without probable cause.

In April 2014, in what is considered a landmark case, a federal judge ruled that an Oregon county had violated an immigrant’s Fourth Amendment rights by holding her without probable cause.

Between Jan. 1, 2014, and June 19, 2015, there were 10,516 detainer requests declined in California and 17,193 declined nationwide, ICE said...

“What happened in San Francisco is tragic,” said Jennie Pasquarella, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of California. “But to the extent there is any question about whether a person should have been held, it was simply a form and there was no warrant signed off by a judge.”

San Francisco’s sheriff department said there was no active ICE warrant or judicial order of removal for Mr. Sanchez, “only a request for his detention.”

Last month, ICE announced that it would use detainers only in “special circumstances.”...

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump, who has been criticized for making derogatory remarks about Mexican immigrants, described Ms. Steinle’s death as “a senseless and totally preventable violent act committed by an illegal immigrant.”

Civil rights groups and critics of the detainer policy counter that immigration hard-liners are trying to capitalize on the slaying.

“During a time of unspeakable tragedy, there is something fundamentally wrong about demagogues who quickly seek to exploit tragedy for political gain,” said Chris Newman, legal director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.