San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom under fire for shift in Sanctuary City policy

[marmar]

from the SF Bay Guardian:



Crossing the line
How Mayor Newsom's policies are tearing apart families, imprisoning and imperiling children, and creating a climate of fear in immigrant communities

BY SARAH PHELAN
Wednesday November 11, 2009


Estella (a fake name she used to protect her identity) is a single mother of five who came to the United States from Latin America when her oldest daughter was a baby, hoping for a better future for her family.

But thanks to a shift in San Francisco's sanctuary policy that Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered last year, Estella's daughter — we'll call her Maria, now 15 — was seized by federal immigration authorities this fall, ripped from her family and community, and shipped to a detention center in Miami.

Her crime: she got in a fight with her younger, U.S.-born sister.

The experience shattered Estella's dreams and terrified her family, whom immigration experts describe as "mixed status" because Estella also has U.S.-born children.

It also convinced Estella to speak out publicly to try to convince Newsom that legislation that ensures due process for kids like her daughter is the right thing to do. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=9401&volume_id=452&issue_id=458&volume_num=44&issue_num=06