Posted on 10/22/2008 8:18:56 PM PDT by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO -- A state appeals court today reinstated a taxpayer lawsuit that accuses San Francisco officials of violating a state law that requires police who make drug arrests to notify federal authorities if a criminal suspect doesn't appear to be a U.S. citizen.A Superior Court judge dismissed the suit last year, saying the California law on which it was based was an invalid attempt by the state to regulate immigration. The First District Court of Appeal disagreed Wednesday and said the law, though it might affect immigration, is based on the state's legal authority to combat drug trafficking.
The 3-0 ruling allows opponents of San Francisco's immigration policy to try to prove that the city has broken the state law. Passed in 1953, the law requires police to tell federal immigration officials whenever they arrest someone for any of 14 specified drug crimes and have reason to believe that the person "may not be a citizen of the United States." It applies not only to illegal immigrants but also to non-citizens who are legal residents and can be deported for committing serious crimes.
"This decision strikes at the heart of the sanctuary movement," said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative group that joined the lawsuit after it was dismissed. The court did not look into the city's reporting practices, which will be considered later in the case, but Fitton said he has "little doubt that San Francisco is in non-compliance with the law."
Matt Dorsey, spokesman for City Attorney Dennis Herrera, said the ruling "has no bearing on the city's sanctuary ordinance," the 1989 law that bars the use of city funds to aid immigration enforcement, except as required by federal law.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Some really evil, disgusting pieces of human debris have really done immense damage to one of the most beautiful cities.
I live near San Francisco. The city coddles the homeless and those on welfare.
You get free food, free “general assistance” cash, free housing at shelters and SRO hotels, free medical care and all the money you can cadge from the tourists.
The city is an open sewer which needs to be drained.
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