San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins Backtracks on Sanctuary City Amendment

San Francisco will not carve out new exceptions to its sanctuary city ordinance to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security, after District Attorney Brooke Jenkins on Wednesday officially withdrew her proposal to do so. Members of the Board of Supervisors affirmed the move on Thursday.

Jenkins’ decision came just a day after supervisors overwhelmingly passed a resolution reaffirming support for the city’s sanctuary city law in a 10–1 vote, with Supervisor Matt Dorsey as the only holdout. The ordinance broadly prohibits city leaders and police from notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement if a person potentially facing deportation is released from custody.

“After meeting with the victims of these horrific crimes and community leaders, I have asked Supervisor Catherine Stefani to table our two ordinances that would allow limited exceptions to our policy to authorize a parole entry agreement with the Department of Homeland Security,” Jenkins said in a prepared statement.

Jenkins in February asked the Board of Supervisors to make an exception to the sanctuary ordinance for two men, one accused of raping a child and another who is suspected of domestic violence and murder. Both suspects are Mexican nationals who have fled the United States.

Jenkins previously said that federal authorities would refuse to seek extradition of the suspects unless San Francisco changed its decades-long stance on immigration enforcement.

On Thursday, the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee, which consists of Supervisors Stefani, Dorsey and Joel Engardio, voted unanimously to table the amendments.

“I was here in 2019 when DHS asked us to do this very same thing, and then it turned out we didn't need to do it at all because they brought the individual back without any amendments whatsoever,” Stefani said before the committee.

In her statement, a stark reversal from her previous stance, Jenkins stated that federal authorities could pursue the two men without San Francisco compromising its sanctuary laws.

“We will work with and call on the federal government to expedite the apprehension and transportation of the wanted domestic violence murderer and child rapist who fled the country,” Jenkins wrote. “My priority is delivering justice for these families who have been waiting years. Time is of the essence in these cases and the federal government, if it chooses to, can offer these families their best shot at seeing justice done.”

Stefani said the district attorney reassured her that she is working with the federal government to expedite the apprehension and extradition of the suspects.

“Their assistance in these cases will ensure that we are able to live up to our mutual commitments to the people of San Francisco, the state of California and the United States,” Stefani said.

Meanwhile, another proposal to amend the sanctuary law appears not to have enough votes from the supervisors to pass. That proposal, put forward by Dorsey, would add people charged with dealing fentanyl to the city’s list of exceptions for sanctuary protections.

Under San Francisco’s current policy, local law enforcement can honor an ICE request to hold someone if that person is facing a violent felony charge and was previously convicted of a violent felony — including murder, rape and arson — in the previous seven years, or of a serious felony — including robbery and carjacking — in the previous five years.

Dorsey’s proposal would add an additional exception to that list, for a person who had been found guilty of selling fentanyl and previously convicted of fentanyl dealing or a violent felony in the prior seven years, or a serious felony in the prior five years.

Dorsey is considering proposing a ballot measure if it does not pass the Board of Supervisors, according to multiple reports.

At the public safety committee hearing Thursday, Engardio called on the board to uphold San Francisco's commitment to its sanctuary policy.

"It's an important concept for public safety because it allows undocumented residents to report crimes and testify as witnesses without fear of deportation,” he said at the hearing. “The sanctuary city concept is sacred. We should not weaken it.”

KQED reporter Tyche Hendricks contributed to this report.