Can You Give Me Sanctuary So I Can Break The Law Again?

MayorBob.

Posted to Legal on Thu Jul 24, 2008 at 09:27:47 PM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

San Francisco Bay area cities are just a little more liberal and activist than your average American city. Take immigration policy, for instance. Since the 1980s, San Francisco and Oakland have had City of Refuge ordinances in effect. Basically they say that city officials will not cooperate with federal authorities in trying to apprehend illegal immigrants. As recently as 2006 San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome lauded his city's reputation as a beacon to all - even illegal immigrants. But a recent crime, and the public's reaction to it, might mean that San Francisco may move to change all of that.

The crime was your basic horrific road rage incident. Anthony Bologna and his two sons had gotten into a dispute with a car driven by Edwin Ramos. Ramos pulled a gun and settled the dispute by shooting Bologna and his sons to death. The 21-year-old Ramos was arrested a few days later and will face triple murder charges. The fact that Ramos is a gang member caused community ire to increase due to feeling that crime was spiraling out of control.

Then came the information that Ramos is also an illegal immigrant and had been a beneficiary of the city's lenient attitude towards illegal immigration. Because, twice while Ramos was a juvenile he had been sheltered from deportation even though he was convicted of two violent felonies. Apparently this benign neglect extended to this past March when he was arrested on gun charges as an adult. In truth, the city and the federal government are playing the blame game on the March incident. The sheriff's department says it sent a notice to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that they could pick up Ramos any time they chose. ICE says it has no record of any such cooperation from the sheriff. Earlier this month Mayor Newsome announced the city's policy on sheltering illegals involved in violent crime would be changed. The federal government says it's still waiting for the first signs that anything has changed.

Thus in the wake of this, Danielle Bologna is calling for the city to change the rules she holds partially responsible for the deaths of her husband and sons. The public mood says things must change also. Meanwhile, at his client's arraignment, Edwin Ramos' lawyer Robert Amperon is asking for a gag order from the judge. Amperon then went on to say the media is all wrong about his client -- false info had been published regarding his juvenile record, he's not a gangbanger, he's not responsible for the triple murder and he isn't even an illegal immigrant.