Vice President Kamala Harris defended sanctuary cities when she served as San Francisco’s district attorney, with her office declaring at the time that “we are a sanctuary city, we are a city of refuge and we always will be.”
Now the leading Democratic presidential candidate, Republicans point to her liberal policies that are soft on illegal immigrants.
Harris was elected San Francisco’s district attorney in 2004 and ran a campaign vowing to never carry out the death penalty, and during her term she supported the city’s decades-old sanctuary city policy.
Harris said at the time, The policy allowed undocumented immigrants to come forward with crimes without fear of retribution for their immigration status.
Throughout her decades-long career, Harris has emphasized, even as of 2019, that illegal immigrants are not criminals.
Now that she’s the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, The Washington Post is looking back at some of the crimes committed by undocumented immigrants who benefited from sanctuary city policies during her term, including those with criminal records who weren’t deported.
Edwin Ramos
Edwin Ramos, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, committed a triple murder in San Francisco in 2008, while Harris was district attorney.
Ramos’ brutal murders of three members of the Bologna family – Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16 – made national headlines and prompted then-Mayor Gavin Newsom to change the city’s juvenile crime policy.
Prior to these three shootings, Ramos had been arrested several times as a juvenile for his involvement in a gang attack on a bus passenger and an attempted robbery of a pregnant woman, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In both cases, he was not referred to federal authorities because it was city policy not to question the immigration status of minors.
A few weeks after the shooting, Mayor Newsom changed city policy so that any arrests of undocumented youths would be reported to federal authorities.
Harris stuck to her campaign promise and did not seek the death penalty against Ramos, despite urging from his mother, widow Danielle Bologna.
“It was pointless,” Daniel Bologna said at the time, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“The fact that they knew he was undocumented and in the country illegally and didn’t deport him is a big problem.”
“The city needs to take responsibility,” she said.
“They did nothing. … He should have been deported. This is a big thing. I’m very angry about this.”
“The city needs to be held accountable. They didn’t do anything. … He should have been deported. This is a big problem. I’m very angry about this.”
Ronnie Aguilera
Ronnie Aguilera, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, was another juvenile who was arrested during the Harris administration and not turned over to federal authorities because of his immigration status after being convicted of federal assault in juvenile court. According to the San Francisco Chronicle.
After being released from prison in 2007 despite the assault, Aguilera The brutal gang murder of Ivan Miranda In 2008.
Miranda was walking down the street to return an iPad to a friend when Aguilera attacked him with a sword, nearly decapitating him.
Aguilera was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Alexander Izagirre
Harris supported sanctuary city policies and led a program to allow low-level drug offenders to participate in “Back on Track” programs, where they can receive job training and have their criminal records expunged.
The district attorney’s office was in charge of selecting candidates for the program, notably accepting Alexander Izaguirre, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras.
Izaguirre was selected for the employment program despite having been arrested twice within an eight-month period for allegedly snatching a purse and selling cocaine. The LA Times reported..
While attending the program in 2008, Yzagirre assaulted Amanda Keefer, a San Francisco resident.
He snatched her purse, jumped into an SUV and ran over Kiefer with the car, fracturing her skull.
At the time, Harris said it was a mistake to accept Izagirre into the “Back on Track” program.
But she allowed other undocumented immigrants in the program to continue their term and graduate.
“The immigration issues surrounding the Izagirre case are obviously a big problem for the program,” Harris told the Los Angeles Times.
She continued, “I’m not going to downplay it or cover it up.”
Jose Inés García Zarate and Kate Steinle
Harris previously also opposed bills that would have increased penalties for illegal immigrants who repeatedly enter the United States illegally.
As a senator in 2017, Harris helped repeal the Illegal Re-Entry Prevention Act, also known as “Kate’s Law.”
The bill was enacted in response to the 2015 murder of 32-year-old Katherine “Kate” Steinle by Mexican national Jose Ines Garcia Zarate.
At the time, Harris was California’s attorney general and had announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
Steinle was killed by a stray bullet in the back while walking with his father on a pier in San Francisco. Garcia Salatel claims he found a gun under a bench where he was sitting and when he picked it up he accidentally fired the gun, killing Steinle.
Prior to his arrest, Garcia Salatel had been convicted of seven felonies and had been deported six times, but had re-entered the country each time.
Here’s the latest on Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign.
“Kate’s Law” was first put on the ballot in 2015 but was rejected by Senate Democrats.
The bill was introduced again in 2017, but was again rejected by Democrats, including then-Senator Harris.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has tried to bring up the bill again each Congressional session, most recently in 2023, but it has faced difficulty getting it out of the Democratic-controlled Judiciary Committee.
By illegal immigrants in San Francisco. Getty Images
Garcia Zarate was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges by a San Francisco jury in 2017.
A jury found him guilty of possessing a firearm as a felon, but that charge was later overturned.
Criticism
Republicans have harshly criticized Harris’ record on immigration, as she is seen as a likely replacement for Biden as the Democratic nominee in 2024.
Former President Donald Trump slammed Governor Harris’ sanctuary city policies during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.
“Kamala Harris has also been weak on crime, voting for dangerous sanctuary cities that protect illegal immigrant criminals, murderers and gang members from deportation and arrest,” Trump said.
“Kamala has refused to seek the death penalty for anybody, even if it’s an MS13 gang member, no matter how horrific the murder, no matter how horrible the murder, no matter what they did. She has rejected the death penalty.”
Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, also weighed in on Harris’ record at the border.
“Vice President Kamala Harris’ actions demonstrate a complete disregard for border security born out of either political ambition or incompetence,” he told reporters on a conference call.
“Vice President Harris knows the solutions but refuses to implement them. I conclude that she either has political power, craves the support of her base, or is dangerously incompetent,” Judd added, criticizing her for her inaction on border security during her time as vice president.
The Harris campaign did not respond to inquiries from The Washington Post.
