illegal aliens

Tragedy on San Francisco's Pier 14

On Wednesday, July 1^st, 32-year-old Kate Steinle was shot and killed on San Francisco’s Pier 14, “one of the city’s most scenic tourist spots.” The ABC affiliate in San Francisco reported San Francisco police said she “was walking along Pier 14 when a man came up and shot her in the upper torso.”

The ABC affiliate reported “Wednesday was supposed to be fun for Kate and her family. She met her father on Pier 14 that night. He was there to take her to Pleasanton, to learn if her brother and his wife were expecting a boy or girl. But tragedy struck instead.” The San Jose Mercury News reported “A bullet pierced Steinle’s aorta and she collapsed to the ground in front of her father, who desperately tried to save her life.”

April 2014 Oregon court ruling

Janice M. Stewart was appointed as a U.S. Magistrate Judge on October 13, 1993. She was the first woman to be appointed to serve as a federal magistrate judge in Oregon.

Judge Stewart ruled on April 11, 2014 that holding Maria Miranda-Olivares for an immigration hold violated her constitutional rights. Miranda-Olivares had been held for 19 hours after completing a two-day jail sentence in Clackamas County for a domestic violence charge. According to the Oregonian “jail officials detained her until the next day, giving US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials time to pick her up.” As part of the ruling, the judge found that cities, counties and states could be held liable for unlawful detention for immigration detentions.

In the wake of the ruling, 30 of Oregon’s 36 counties quickly became “sanctuary counties,” according to the Center for Immigration Studies. One Oregon city, Springfield, became a “sanctuary city.”

A Portland immigration lawyer called Judge Stewart’s ruling a game changer and a Lewis and Clark College law professor said “Oregon may actually be one of the leading areas of the country in basically rejecting the idea that state and local law enforcement officers should pay attention to the detainers.”

The April 2014 ruling was followed by a coordinated campaign by immigrant rights’ groups and the ACLU to push other counties to defy federal immigration hold requests (“ICE detainers”) – which are part of the Secure Communities program. They sent letters to counties throughout the U.S.

On May 29, 2014 the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department announced that they would “no longer honor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers unless they are supported by judicial determination of probable cause or with a warrant of arrest” – expanding San Francisco’s “sanctuary” status.

Accused murderer a felon illegal immigrant exploiting “sanctuary” status of San Francisco

The accused murderer of Kate Steinle, Francisco Sanchez, is a convicted felon who has been deported 5 times and was only recently released from prison. Sanchez used a gun that had been stolen from a federal agent’s car while the agent was in San Francisco on business.

USA Today reported “Federal officials say he should have never been walking the streets a free man. Federal officials released Sanchez in March from federal prison where he had served nearly four years for previous immigration violations. They delivered Sanchez to the San Francisco sheriff’s office, where he was wanted on felony marijuana distribution charges. Local officials dropped those charges a few days later and released Sanchez onto the street despite a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain him for deportation.”

U.S. News & World Report reported “The San Francisco sheriff, citing the city’s ‘sanctuary city’ policy, released Sanchez in April after prosecutors dropped the drug charge, despite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement request to hold him for federal authorities so deportation proceedings could begin.”

A federal immigration spokeswoman said “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.”

U.S. News & World Report reported “Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told CNN that San Francisco was wrong to ignore the ICE detainer request and release Sanchez from custody.” They also quote Hillary Clinton saying “The city made a mistake not to deport someone that the federal government strongly felt should be deported.”

USA Today also reported that the accused murderer told a TV reporter he came to San Francisco to look for a job because he knew they offered sanctuary to people unlawfully in the country. Read more about Oregon judge’s connection to illegal immigrant’s murder of Kate Steinle

Portland labor activist Juan Francisco Aguirre-Velasquez asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss charges that he illegally re-entered the United States after he was convicted of drug delivery charges and deported in 1999.

Aguirre-Velasquez, who twice escaped the brutal regime of his native El Salvador, claimed in court papers that the immigration judge who handled his 1999 deportation proceedings violated his due process by failing to correctly explain the range of options available to him.

"Only because (Immigration Judge Michael) Bennett incorrectly informed Mr. Aguirre-Velasquez that he would be detained indefinitely if his request for suspension of deportation was granted, did Mr. Aguirre-Velasquez withdraw his request for relief and acquiesce to be removed (from the U.S)," his lawyer, Ellen C. Pitcher, wrote in court papers.

"Because there is no other basis for the prosecution," Pitcher wrote, "the indictment must be dismissed."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory R. Nyhus, representing federal immigration officials, disagreed with Pitcher's argument. In legal papers, he asked Senior District Judge Robert E. Jones to deny Pitcher's motion.

"Simply put," Nyhus wrote, "as an aggravated felon, the defendant was not entitled to the relief requested and had no other plausible method of relief available to him. Therefore, his removal would still have occurred even if the immigration judge had provided correct information."

Jones took the matter under advisement and is expected to file a written opinion.

Aguirre-Velasquez, who received three years of probation on the drug charges, faced new travails last summer, after he was stopped for drunken driving. He blew .12 on the blood-alcohol test, higher than the legal limit in Oregon of .08.

He took refuge last September in Augustana Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland, where congregants took him in as part of the sanctuary movement. Later that month, a federal grand jury indicted him for illegally re-entering the U.S. after his deportation.

The sanctuary movement protects immigrants such as Aguirre-Velasquez, who made a name for himself standing up for oppressed workers after facing the horrors of war as a youth in El Salvador...

The nation's sanctuary movement came under criticism after Francisco Sanchez, a 45-year-old repeat drug offender from Mexico, was arrested in San Francisco following last Wednesday's shooting death of Kathryn Steinle.

News accounts suggested that Sanchez, deported five times, came to the city because of its status as a sanctuary, opening criticism of the movement by the U.S. immigration officials and others.
  Read more about Portland labor activist Francisco Aguirre-Velasquez wants U.S. immigration charge dismissed

SALEM — Oregon lawmakers have cleared the way for state grants for Oregon university students who were brought to the United States as children but lack immigration papers.

Gov. Kate Brown will receive Senate Bill 932 after the Senate voted 17-12 on Friday for the final version. The House approved it, 34-25, on the previous day.

With the exception of one Democrat in the Senate, the votes were along party lines ...

The House vote followed a verbal dust-up between a supporter and opponents of the bill.

According to state estimates, a maximum of 1,000 such students would be eligible for Oregon Opportunity Grants — and that 350 of them were likely to obtain them.

Rep. Joe Gallegos, D-Hillsboro, said about 75 students are enrolled at state universities under the terms of 2013 legislation allowing them to qualify for in-state tuition rates if they meet specified requirements....

The two-year budget for Oregon Opportunity Grants will be increased by 24 percent, to $141 million. According to estimates, 84,000 students will receive average grants of $1,650.

But a couple of the five Republicans who voted for the 2013 in-state tuition law said they believed it would not extend to eligibility for state financial assistance.

“We are going to do now what we said was not going to happen,” said Rep. Julie Parrish, R-West Linn.

The bill received no Republican votes, and Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose was the only Democrat in opposition...

The House debate was interrupted when Rep. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, criticized the opposition voiced by some of his colleagues as he spoke in favor of the bill. His remarks triggered a response by Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, who had just spoken against the bill.

A House rule says: “In speaking, the member must confine discussion to the question under debate, avoid personalities and not impugn the motives of another member's vote or argument.”

House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, spoke after a timeout lasting several minutes, during which members of both parties attempted to calm things.

“I want to point out that it is really important not to impugn or infer someone’s motives here on this floor,” Kotek said. “I want to say that the member from East Multnomah County was inappropriate in what he was saying.”

Gorsek then rose and said: “I understand that I did something extremely inappropriate“ and I am extremely embarrassed by that.”
  Read more about Lawmakers clear grants for undocumented students

Francisco Sanchez had been deported to Mexico five times before he says he shot and killed a woman last week on Pier 14, but he knew San Francisco was a sanctuary city where immigration authorities would not detain him.

In a jailhouse interview Sunday with KGO-TV, Sanchez admitted that he shot 32-year-old Kate Steinle, but said it was an accident. He said he found the gun on the ground wrapped in a T-shirt and that it went off three times as he unwrapped it.

Sanchez, 56, who spoke in limited, heavily accented English and also through a translator, said he kicked the gun into the bay and didn't realize he had shot someone until he was picked up later that day by police.

He said he has been living in San Francisco for about four months. He kept crossing the border illegally to seek jobs in the restaurant and construction industry, and that he had searched for work in California as well as Oregon.

Sanchez also said that he didn't remember the shooting...

The San Francisco sheriff's office released Sanchez in March...

San Francisco, which has one of the most lenient "sanctuary city" policies in the nation, does not hold those identified as illegal immigrants by ICE without a judicial determination or arrest warrant.

"We followed both the city ordinance and our policy, which is that we don't honor ICE detainers — which are a request, not a legal basis," Freya Horne, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
  Read more about Francisco Sanchez admits shooting woman, knew San Francisco would not detain him

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. Read more about San Francisco Killing Sparks Illegal Immigrant Detention Debate

A California employer is facing lawsuit and a lot condemnation from a group of employees for a rule they have enforced that others think is discriminatory. But the job site doesn’t care, they’re sticking to it and those who don’t like it can find work elsewhere.

Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa has deemed their facility English-speaking only, and anyone caught communicating in Spanish, will be terminated if they incur multiple offenses. After all, this is America, and Americans don’t move to other countries and expect that their employer allow them to speak English to native customers or clients who can’t understand a word of what they’re saying.

The policy is clear and simple, stating that “English is considered to be the official language of the state of California and should be spoken while doing the work of the state unless otherwise indicated by the needs of clients or their families.” But a group of long-time employees of the center say the rule shouldn’t have to apply to them, since they don’t interact with clients directly, citing the California’s Department of Fair Employment Act to back up their complaint via an attorney to fight their battle for them — in English.

The Act states that an “employer can’t prohibit the use of any language in the workplace unless he or she can prove that it is justified by business necessity,” according to the disgruntled group’s attorney, Joseph Scully.

In this particular case, the individuals allegedly discriminated against...all food service workers with the exception of one who is a custodian in the building. ...alleged in their lawsuit that the employer eavesdrops on their private conversations...

The workers whined that the rule makes them feel like second-class employees...

It’s ridiculous for foreign citizens to come to our country and make demands that cater to their non-desire to learn our language...

One can’t have the advantages of living in this great nation and benefiting from our job availability, financial stability, and freedom, while forcing that rules are changed or worked around to suit them.

The man accused of gunning down a 32-year-old Pleasanton woman while she was out strolling San Francisco's Embarcadero with her father was in a Bay Area jail less than four months ago and should have been turned over to federal immigration officials upon his release, instead of being set free, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

But that's not the way the San Francisco County Sheriff's Legal Counsel Freya Horne sees it. In an interview Friday with NBC Bay Area, she said the city and county of San Francisco are sanctuaries for immigrants, and they do not turn over undocumented people – if they don't have active warrants out for them – simply because immigration officials want them to.

Meanwhile, San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr said Francisco Sanchez, who was arrested following the Wednesday evening shooting of Kathryn Steidle, along Pier 14 has "made an admission" with regards to the seemingly random death in the middle of a populated part of town....

Sanchez, who law enforcement say is either 45 or 46 and has about a dozen aliases, was taken into custody after witnesses described him to police. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he is an undocumented immigrant with a long criminal history who has previously been deported to Mexico five times, the last time in 2008...

Kice told NBC Bay Area on Friday that Sanchez should have been returned to her agency's custody, because he had a "detainer" on his status in jail.
.
Federal records show Sanchez has seven prior felony convictions, four of which were for drug charges. Records indicate his convictions took place in states including Texas, Oregon and Arizona. And a law enforcement source said the case that landed Sanchez in San Francisco jail most recently was for a marijuana case that was about 20 years old.

Police have described the shooting as random, as she was not robbed and never even exchanged words with the man who killed her. Kathryn Steinle's father, Jim Steinle, said she was taken in the prime of her life. "She had so much to live for and died so senselessly,” he said Thursday. “It’s terrible.”...

San Francisco Police Officer Grace Gatpandan Gatpandan added that San Francisco is a "sanctuary city, so we do not hand over people to ICE." She also said that the police are "not responsible" for Sanchez once he is booked into county jail, "meaning we do not have control over his release."

Sanctuary cities, which are dotted throughout the United States, don't inquire about an immigrant's status for the federal government. It has no legal meaning, but is a de facto practice of a particular city.

San Francisco's particular ordinance is called the "Due Process Ordinance for All on Civil Immigration Detainers." Read more about Accused San Francisco Pier Shooter Should Have Been Deported: Immigration Officials

A Honduran man described as high-level heroin dealer was sentenced to five years in prison Monday for conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Alex Ovidio Rodriguez-Elvir could have faced a longer sentence. One of Rodriguez-Elvir's customers, a lower level dealer, sold heroin to an Estacada man, David Bessey, who died from an overdose....could not conclusively be linked to the death.

Clackamas County deputies arrested Rodriguez-Elvir in July 2014 after he agreed to deliver heroin to a police informant. He was carrying about 4 ounces on him when he was arrested, said prosecutor Matt Semritc...

Rodriguez-Elvir, 26, was born in Honduras and worked on his family's farm. He came to the United States in 2012 or 2013 to put down "roots" and start a family, said his attorney David Celuch.

He worked as a landscaper in the Portland-area, Celuch said. He also fathered a child, a girl born this year.

Although Rodriguez-Elvir had been in Oregon for a relatively short time, he was a "high-level heroin dealer, selling substantial amounts of the drug, Semritc noted...

Rodriguez-Elvir said he was not fully aware of how deadly heroin could be and tried to distance himself from any responsibility for Bessey's death.

The judge said she found it hard to believe that Rodriguez-Elvir did not know the consequences of his actions...

Rodriguez-Elvir also was placed on three years probation and fined $1,000.

Rodriguez-Elvir's immigration status is unclear, but he faces deportation when he is released from prison.
  Read more about Honduran man called 'high-level heroin dealer' gets 5 years in prison

The issue for some was simply about respect for U.S. laws, the nation's sovereignty and secure borders.

For others, it was a rejection what they saw as hatred. What seemed clear even before the rally started was that few would find any middle ground.

About 100 people gathered on the steps of the state Capitol on Saturday for a rally to hear Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, speak about immigration, drugs, gun laws, taxes and getting tough on crime.

The event was sponsored by the Oregon Republican Party.

Also in front of the Capitol, but across the street, about three times as many people gathered in protest of Arpaio, who is known for his conservative stances on immigration and hard-line policing.

Now 81, Arpaio has been sheriff for 23 years of the county that contains Phoenix and the 13th-largest metropolitan area in the nation.

During his 40-minute speech, Arpaio spoke of illegal immigration as an economic, diplomatic, and political problem. He joked about how the crowd across Court Street could have arrived at Capitol, prompting laughter from those crowded onto the steps.

While the counter-ralliers waited for the speech to start, they chanted "no hate in our state," and "love your neighbor."

Yrma Hernandez, a "40-something" Salem resident was among the counter-rally crowd and said she attended the event in the 90-plus-degree weather to support farmworkers.

"I'm here to support all the people who work hard for us in the fields," Hernandez said. "They deserve a chance to work, too — a chance to have work permits and green cards."

Arpaio, who is known as "America's Toughest Sheriff," has implemented some controversial programs and regulations — like chain gangs, two daily meals in jails instead of three, and a "tent city" where inmates reside in military surplus tents.

Hillsboro resident Brad Toman stood on the Capitol steps holding a full-sized American flag.

"I'm here today because I support the sovereignty of our nation and a secure border," Toman said. "The government doesn't seem to support us in enforcing immigration laws."

Toman said he became politically active when Oregon driver cards became an issue and said he was happy that 66 percent of Oregonians were against it.

"It showed me that there's a big silent majority here in Oregon," Toman said. "And I'm a bit disappointed in the number here on this side of the street, and the tact of those across the way.

"The signs they're holding refer to race. Immigration isn't about race at all. They play the race card because it's inflammatory."

Ruben Zamora, 25, was one of the few who crossed Court Street and ascend the steps.

"They called me a terrorist," Zamora said, who was wearing a plastic mask. "I said, 'Jesus commanded us to love one another.' All this hate creates a gut-wrenching feeling for me."

As part of the rally, three pairs of pink underwear were raffled as prizes. The garments' significance relates to Arpaio's tactic after several pairs of white underwear were stolen from the Arizona jail.

After the thefts, Arpaio had jail underwear dyed pink, reasoning that those who turned up wearing the pink underwear in release sweeps could be identified as thieves.

Hernandez said she didn't appreciate Arpaio's presence in Oregon.

"Joe needs to take his pink underwear back home with him," Hernandez said. "We don't need them here."

As Arpaio stepped away from the podium, he reminded the crowd of why he was there and chants from across the street continued.

"This is the greatest country in the world," Arpaio said. "Some things I do are controversial, and that draws a lot of national attention, but the most important thing is to remember that this greatest country in the world."
  Read more about 'Toughest Sheriff' Joe Arpaio draws supporters, foes in Salem

SALEM — State grants could go to college students who were brought to the United States as children but lack immigration papers under a bill that cleared the Oregon Senate on Thursday.

The 17-11 vote, largely along party lines, moved Senate Bill 932 to the House.

Sen. Michael Dembrow, a Democrat from Portland and the bill’s chief sponsor, said that based on estimates, ...350 of them were likely to get them.

Given that lawmakers have boosted funds in the next two-year budget cycle to make grants available to 13,000 more students, Dembrow said the 350 would be a small share.

“They are exactly the kind of kids we should be investing in,” Dembrow said. “Most of these kids have lived here all of these years and they deserve a shot.”

But Dembrow, a community college instructor, acknowledged that his sponsorship of the bill is a shift from two years ago, when as chairman of a House committee, he was floor manager of the bill that allowed in-state tuition rates for undocumented students.

Dembrow said then that the 2013 bill, which became law, did not open the way for state aid to these students — unlike SB 932.

Jim Ludwick of McMinnville, spokesman and former president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, made a pointed comment about Dembrow’s 2013 remarks in written testimony filed for a June 15 budget subcommittee hearing.

“I remember nudging the person next to me and saying wait two years,” Ludwick wrote. “Here we are just two years later and the same advocates now want to do just that.”...

...If the House passes SB 932, Oregon would join California, Washington and some other states that allow state aid.
  Read more about Undocumented student grant measure clears Senate