SF to publicize its status as sanctuary for illegal immigrants

[Cirque du So-What]

The City to publicize its status as sanctuary for illegal immigrants

Feb 28, 2008 6:00 AM (2 days ago) by Joshua Sabatini, The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco’s “sanctuary” policy for illegal immigrants, which has drawn sharp criticism from conservatives, will be promoted in an advertisement campaign complete with multilanguage brochures and radio and TV public service announcements.

The city-funded outreach campaign is expected to roll out this spring and build on San Francisco’s response to last year’s federal immigration raids, which city officials said scared undocumented immigrants into not accessing city services, reporting crimes or sending children to school.

City officials Wednesday were not able to provide The Examiner with a cost breakdown for the campaign.

“We have worked with the Board of Supervisors, Department of Public Health, labor and immigrant rights groups to create a city government-wide public awareness campaign so that immigrants know The City won’t target them for using city services,” said Nathan Ballard, Mayor Gavin Newsom’s spokesman.

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http://www.examiner.com/a-1247329~The_City_to_publicize_its_status_as_sanctuary_for_illegal_immigrants.html

This decision stems from federal immigration raids last year. The article didn't mention anything, however, about a crackdown on the businesses that benefit from the cheap labor these immigrants provide. Why not? Aren't these businesses the reason these economic immigrants come to the US in the first place? If the federal government wanted to accomplish something, why don't they check the payrolls of companies to see if all the required paperwork is in order?

I also believe that city government has better things to do than worry about the legal status of its residents. The article said that, after the federal immigration raids, those people were afraid to report crimes to the police! I imagine the SFPD is relieved, not being forced to do the fed's job for them. Let la Migra keep playing their silly games, making sporadic raids and keeping the immigrants on edge, but this problem will persist until illegal employers are held accountable for continuing to hire workers without proper documentation.