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Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Mess in Sanctuary San Francisco


Gavin Newsom


Today, accused murderer Edwin Ramos appeared in Criminal Court in San Francisco and entered a plea of "not guilty". Meanwhile, more details are coming out about how the City of San Francisco shielded Ramos from ICE prior to the murders of three people taking place in June.

As reported, Ramos was twice convicted of felony offenses four years ago when he was 17. In April of this year, Ramos was detained by San Francisco police when a car he was riding in was stopped and a passenger was found trying to dispose of a handgun that had been used just the day before in a double homicide. Eventually, it was decided that Ramos would not be charged, and he was released. At some point, the San Francisco Sheriff's Department sent an immigration inquiry to ICE. At this point, ICE and the City of San Francisco are pointing fingers at each other. ICE states that, according to their records, the only communication they received from SFSD was at 3:44 am on April 2. They then processed Ramos' name and learned that he was subject to a deportation order, at which time, they sent a message back to SFSD to hold onto Ramos. The problem was that Ramos had already been released at 1:55 am. So, accordingt to ICE, Ramos had already been released before they received the notification from SFSD.

Why would SFSD send an immigration inquiry to ICE if they had already released the person, you ask? Well, it seems that the San Francisco jail receives reimbursement from the feds for housing federal prisoners-which apparently would include those subject to the jurisdiction of ICE-in other words, illegal aliens.

The San Francisco Chronicle, which is following the story, has just interviewed Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has made a couple of interesting comments. Newsom is pointing the finger of blame at ICE. During the interview, Newsom claimed that the city turned Ramos over to federal authorities, and "they chose not to deport him." In a separate answer, Newsom stated that the City turned Ramos over to federal authorities and they "chose not to pick him up."

Which is it, Mayor Newsom? Did ICE choose not to pick Ramos up or choose not to deport him? Did San Francisco actually turn Ramos over to ICE, and how would that square with "they chose not to pick him up"?

One thing is clear. ICE never had custody of Ramos. Somebody is lying here, and it appears to be Mayor Newsom. The Mayor of San Francisco is lying, you ask? This is the same Gavin Newsom who, not too long ago, was having an affair with the wife of his chief of staff.

At least the San Francisco Chronicle is following the story. Not so the LA Times, which still has seen fit to report the story. That makes TWO stories the LA Times is missing out on; one that occurred in San Francisco-and another right in their own back yard. What story is that, you ask?

Be patient.

1 comment:

Findalis said...

If he had been deported 3 men would be alive today. A sorry state of affairs in San Francisco isn't it.