Rostam Blog
San Francisco Police Turn Car-Theft Victim Over to Feds, Violate Sanctuary City Policy
Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno was just doing the right thing. In November 2015, Figueroa-Zarceno had his car stolen. The Mission District, San Francisco resident did what any citizen would do – he contacted police about his stolen car. That call led to Figueroa-Zarceno – who had immigrated to the U.S. more than 10 years ago as a refugee fleeing the violence in El Salvador – being handcuffed and placed in the hands of ICE. He told the U.S. he was going to live with an Aunt in San Francisco but skipped an immigration hearing and a warrant was put out for his arrest. Figueroa-Zarceno’s attorney stated he had planned to file for asylum.
San Francisco is a sanctuary city, so Figueroa-Zarceno couldn’t have possibly expected to end up in federal agents’ handcuffs for merely reporting a crime. Sanctuary cities are ones that don’t aid federal immigration officers in deportations. They don’t allow their resources to be used in aiding enforcement of federal immigration laws. This means that if an undocumented immigrant comes to city officials for any reason, (reporting a crime, witnessing a crime, etc) they cannot ask about their status or detain them if they are wanted by ICE. At least 30 cities have sanctuary policies in place, including: Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Oakland, Miami, Denver, and more. Other cities and state go the opposite direction. Specifically to San Francisco, the city bans any use of money or resources to “assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
On December 2nd, 2015, when the San Francisco Police contacted Figueroa-Zarceno telling him they had found the car, he didn’t hesitate to come down the police station. When he arrived, police ran a background check on him and the system showed an outstanding warrant for deportation. It was then up to police whether to enforce the warrant. San Francisco Police have not admitted to notifying federal agents, but theofficial ICE report states that they were notified by the police about the warrant. It stated, “SFPD contacted duty officer … and stated Zarceno is at the Southern Police Station located at 1245 3rd St.”
Surprise, surprise, the SFPD released Figueroa-Zarceno and when he exited, ICE agents were waiting to arrest him – in front of his family and young daughter.
After two months in jail, Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno was finally released last week. The police released a surprisingly apologetic statement after his release. Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a police spokesman, said, “We are happy and relieved that Mr. Figueroa-Zarceno has been restored to his family.” Adding, “It is the policy of the San Francisco Police Department to foster trust and cooperation with all people of the city and to encourage them to communicate with SFPD officers without fear of inquiry regarding their immigration status.”
A new Sheriff has been elected and she has been working to strengthen the sanctuary policies already on record. Hopefully, no one else has to live in fear of reporting crimes in San Francisco.