Emotions Boil At SF Sanctuary City Rally
POSTED: 1:03 pm PDT July 30, 2008
UPDATED: 1:14 pm PDT July 30, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO -- Supporters of San Francisco’s sanctuary city immigration policy verbally clashed with members of the Minutemen civilian militia group Wednesday at a boisterous rally in front of City Hall. At least one protester was taken into custody.
Emotions have escalated over the controversial policy in the wake of a series of newspaper articles revealing that illegal immigrant juveniles had been sheltered from INS authorities by the city after committing crimes within San Francisco.
The latest such case, the reports say, was the slaying of a San Francisco man and his two sons by a gunman. The suspect -- Edwin Ramos -- had previously been arrested in San Francisco as a juvenile, but his immigration status was not reported to the INS.
The judge in the case refused to issue a gag order request from Ramos’ attorney on Wednesday.
Responding to the public outcry over the newspaper disclosures, Mayor Gavin Newsom has rescinded the sanctuary law.
On Wednesday, both sides of the issue showed up on the steps of City Hall armed with pickets and blow horns. About a dozen Minutemen were countered by more than 200 sanctuary supporters.
“American residents are killed at the hands of illegal aliens on a routine basis either through outright homicide or through manslaughter – drunk driving, etc.,” said Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minutemen.
Meanwhile, Renee Saucedo, an attorney with La Raza Centro, demanded that the city’s policy be reinstated.
“It’s pretty outrageous,” she said. “We want to support the city’s position to affirm our sanctuary law and to really call out these hatemongers.”
The Minuteman Project, an activist organization co-founded in 2005 by Gilchrist, seeks to monitor the flow of illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The group has drawn criticism from immigrant-rights groups and President George W. Bush, who expressed concern over “vigilante” border projects, while earning praise from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said the group has done a “terrific job.”
http://www.foxreno.com/news/17041151/detail.html
POSTED: 1:03 pm PDT July 30, 2008
UPDATED: 1:14 pm PDT July 30, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO -- Supporters of San Francisco’s sanctuary city immigration policy verbally clashed with members of the Minutemen civilian militia group Wednesday at a boisterous rally in front of City Hall. At least one protester was taken into custody.
Emotions have escalated over the controversial policy in the wake of a series of newspaper articles revealing that illegal immigrant juveniles had been sheltered from INS authorities by the city after committing crimes within San Francisco.
The latest such case, the reports say, was the slaying of a San Francisco man and his two sons by a gunman. The suspect -- Edwin Ramos -- had previously been arrested in San Francisco as a juvenile, but his immigration status was not reported to the INS.
The judge in the case refused to issue a gag order request from Ramos’ attorney on Wednesday.
Responding to the public outcry over the newspaper disclosures, Mayor Gavin Newsom has rescinded the sanctuary law.
On Wednesday, both sides of the issue showed up on the steps of City Hall armed with pickets and blow horns. About a dozen Minutemen were countered by more than 200 sanctuary supporters.
“American residents are killed at the hands of illegal aliens on a routine basis either through outright homicide or through manslaughter – drunk driving, etc.,” said Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minutemen.
Meanwhile, Renee Saucedo, an attorney with La Raza Centro, demanded that the city’s policy be reinstated.
“It’s pretty outrageous,” she said. “We want to support the city’s position to affirm our sanctuary law and to really call out these hatemongers.”
The Minuteman Project, an activist organization co-founded in 2005 by Gilchrist, seeks to monitor the flow of illegal immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The group has drawn criticism from immigrant-rights groups and President George W. Bush, who expressed concern over “vigilante” border projects, while earning praise from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said the group has done a “terrific job.”
http://www.foxreno.com/news/17041151/detail.html