Editorial: A tragedy in San Francisco

SPANISH VERSION
The death of Kate Steinle in San Francisco at the hands of an undocumented immigrant, Francisco Sánchez, is a tragedy that shouldn’t be exploited for political purposes, whether to depict all these immigrants as criminals or question sanctuary cities.

The details of this crime fit into the narrative of the Republicans in Congress and presidential hopeful Donald Trump. According to that narrative, the majority of Mexican immigrants are criminals, and the Obama Administration is endangering security with its immigration policy.

Reports say that Sánchez has been deported five times and has seven felony convictions, four of them for drug-related crimes. He had been released in Texas and was on probation, after being locked up for repeatedly entering the country.

Later on, ICE arrested Sánchez and turned him over to San Francisco authorities for an old drug crime. Then, ICE issued a detainer for him. San Francisco dropped the charges and disregarded the detainer, releasing Sánchez. Last Wednesday, according to Sánchez’s confession, he first found sleeping pills and then a gun with which he accidentally killed Steinle. Sánchez regrets what he did, apologized to the victim’s family and said he deserves severe punishment.

That is the human drama. The political drama would involve manipulating this isolated incident to reinstate the Secure Communities program and to attack sanctuary cities that see in their streets the positive contributions of immigrants.

It is true that if Sánchez had been deported before, he wouldn’t have killed Steinle. However, that is not a reason to restore a relationship between local and immigration officials that resulted in deporting millions of people, the majority of them hard workers.

The goal is to strike a balance between deporting or locking up undocumented immigrants who could be dangerous and leaving an undocumented street vendor free. Local authorities can have discretion, but it requires attention and responsibility.

Using this incident to promote S.1640, a bill proposed by Senator Jeff Sessions that seeks to eliminate sanctuary cities because of a general fear about “gangs and cartels,” is unacceptable. It doesn’t even remotely apply to the Sánchez case. However, that does not matter for those who think all undocumented immigrants are the same, dangerous and politically convenient.