Dem Rep: Congress to Blame, Not Sanctuary Cities for San Francisco Murder

Wednesday at the House Democratic leaders press conference, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) claimed sanctuary cities, which have a policy of not inquiring about one’s immigration status when in custody, are not to blame for five-time deported Francisco Sanchez allegedly killing 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle, despite Sanchez having told a reporter he repeatedly returned to San Francisco looking for work.

Becerra then blamed Congress for not fixing imagination laws “so we can get past this kind of stuff.”

When asked about the murder, Becerra said, “I don’t believe having a sanctuary designation stops us from following the due course of the law to arrest or detain or deport an individual who doesn’t have the right to be in the country. So I don’t believe we should be trying to ascribe blame based on a designation as a sanctuary city.”

He added, “Congress has a huge role to play. The first and foremost thing we can do is finally fix these broken imagination laws so we can get past this kind of stuff.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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