MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins seeks sanctuary exceptions for two fugitives charged with child rape and murder

Brooke Jenkins, the district's first Latina DA, was recently informed by the US Department of Homeland Security that it found the fugitives hiding in Mexico

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has drummed up a political storm after seeking to bypass San Francisco’s sanctuary city rules in order to prosecute two Mexican nationals, who allegedly fled the country to avoid prosecution in their respective child rape and murder cases.

Jenkins, the district's first Latina DA, was recently informed by the US Department of Homeland Security that it found the fugitives hiding in Mexico. The DA, however, said that federal officials were unwilling to send the suspects to San Francisco unless her office and the sheriff agreed to notify the department should the suspects be released from custody. The issue at hand is that San Francisco usually prohibits local authorities from helping federal immigration officials to deport someone who has been released from jail. Considering the same, Jenkins and Mayor London Breed are asking the city's Board of Supervisors to make exceptions for the aforementioned two cases.

ALSO READ

Who is Michael Banks? Border czar vows to make Texas 'least desirable place for illegal immigration'

Joe Biden's Border Bombshell: How illegal immigration came back to bite POTUS

'They get away with it'

“We should not have San Francisco become a place where people are allowed to rape children and murder women, and then—so long as they’re able to avoid prosecution by fleeing the U.S.—they get away with it,” Jenkins told The San Francisco Standard, adding, “And so I’m trying to do my level best to still respect and support our sanctuary city policies while still being able to do my job.”

The DA's requests reportedly "will likely reignite a hot-button issue" considering the city's sanctuary policies were designed to "protect undocumented immigrants from facing undue punishment" and to "encourage them to report crimes to the police without fear of deportation." Supervisor Hillary Ronen vowed to vote against the request made by Breed on behalf of the DA. “What the mayor and DA are doing is weak,” Ronen reportedly said on Monday, February 13, adding, “They are not standing up for our sanctuary ordinance and are being almost extorted by the federal government.”

Breed supports San Francisco’s sanctuary status in essence, but a spokesperson for the mayor said the ordinance “was not put in place to shield people who commit heinous crimes from being prosecuted here.”

Meanwhile, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said in a statement that his office supported sanctuary city exceptions that “ensure accountability and safety.” It's worth noting that Jenkins has not identified the suspects in her requests to supervisors because they have not been arrested. However, the defendant in one of the cases allegedly killed his ex-wife in 2009, leaving “their children behind without a mom," the DA said. The other defendant is accused of sexually abusing two young girls under the age of 10 and a warrant for his arrest was issued in 2021. If convicted, each individual faces a maximum of life in prison.

'The feds are acting so irresponsible'

Aaron Peskin, the president of the board of supervisors, said that he would support the requested sanctuary exemptions this time because the alleged crimes were heinous. “I don’t want to weaken our sanctuary city laws, but this does seem to be an extraordinary case that calls for an extraordinary remedy,” he reportedly said. That said, Peskin wondered why the federal government would not deliver the suspects to San Francisco without the city granting exceptions.

Ronen criticized the DHS for pressuring the city into a highly controversial process instead of simply extraditing the men. She noted that a debate on the issue could tip the suspects off to their pending arrests and they could run free. "The feds are acting so irresponsible,” Ronen reportedly said, adding, “They could lose these individuals because of the games they are playing.”