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Crosscurrents

Interview: Mother Jones reporter on sanctuary cities and security

Josh Harkinson
A memorial to Kate Steinle, who was shot last week on San Francisco's Pier 14

Editor's note: This interview originally aired on Sept. 28, 2015. The text has been updated to reflect more details about the original lawsuit and that a federal magistrate dismissed the portion of suit against the city and its former sheriff on Jan. 6, 2017.   

In July 2015, 32- year old San Francisco resident Kate Steinle was walking along San Francisco’s Embarcadero when she was shot and killed on Pier 14. The alleged shooter, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico,  had been deported  from the U.S. multiple times and had seven felonies on his record. The case raised the issue of San Francisco as a “sanctuary city,” a status it’s held since 1989.

Steinle's parents sued the City and County of San Francisco, former San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and two federal agencies for wrongful death, negligence and a deprivation of federal civil rights. A federal magistrate dismissed the portion of the lawsuit against the city and Mirkarimi on Jan. 6, 2017. 

The case ignited a national conversation about whether sanctuary cities are more dangerous than others. Mother Jones reporter Josh Harkinson has explored that question.

HARKINSON: When local authorities do take up that role of immigration enforcement more directly, it undermines their ability to solve crimes.

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Crosscurrents Immigration
Hana Baba is host of Crosscurrents, KALW's weeknight newsmagazine that broadcasts on KALW Public Radio in the San Francisco Bay Area.