The Hill
By Jordan Fabian
July 6, 2015
The
White House on Monday defended its immigration policies and blasted
Republicans following the killing of a San Francisco woman — allegedly
by an illegal immigrant.
When
asked if the case was a failure of the administration’s enforcement
policies, White House press secretary Josh Earnest chided Republicans
for blocking a bipartisan
immigration bill that would have boosted funding for border security.
“I
recognize that people want to play politics with this,” Earnest said.
“The fact is the president has done everything within his power to make
sure that we’re focusing
our law enforcement resources on criminals and those who pose a threat
to public safety.”
Kathryn
Steinle, 32, was shot and killed Wednesday at a popular tourist
destination in San Francisco. The suspect, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez,
had multiple felony convictions
and had been deported to Mexico five times.
Earnest
faulted the “political efforts of Republicans” for blocking “the kind
of investment that we would like to make in securing our border and
keeping our communities
safe.”
The
spokesman refused to comment on the details of the case, but he pointed
to Obama’s executive actions on immigration launched last fall, which
instructed the Department
of Homeland Security to prioritize the deportation of people who are
considered “public safety threats.”
“We
have started to make changes in terms of structuring and staffing … to
ensure that our law enforcement efforts are focused on felons and not on
families,” he said.
“These efforts would be significantly augmented had Republicans not
blocked common-sense immigration reform.”
Federal
authorities have suggested San Francisco bares responsibility for the
fact that Lopez-Sanchez was still on the street. U.S. Customs and
Immigration Enforcement
(ICE) turned him over to San Francisco authorities in March on a drug
warrant.
But
he was released in April after the charges were dropped, and local law
enforcement did not honor federal officials’ request to be notified when
he was freed.
“We’re
not asking local law enforcement to do our job,” ICE spokeswoman
Gillian Christensen said, according to Fox News. “All we’re asking is
that they notify us when
a serious foreign national criminal offender is being released to the
street so we can arrange to take custody.”
San Francisco is a “sanctuary city” that does not cooperate with federal authorities in enforcing immigration laws.
“It’s
not legal to hold someone on a request to detain. This is not just us.
This is a widely adopted position,” San Francisco Sheriff’s Department
attorney Freya Horne
told The Associated Press.
Some
Republicans have said the Obama administration shares responsibility
for Steinle’s death. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte
(R-Va.) faulted ICE for
handing Lopez-Sanchez over to San Francisco officials knowing it is a
sanctuary city.
“The federal government and San Francisco are wrong here,” he said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
“Why
did they ever turn him over to them when they could have deported him,
or they could have prosecuted him for illegally re-entering the country
four times and send
him to prison?” Goodlatte added. “Either way, Kate Steinle would be
safe.”
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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