Dean Johnson Comments on Sanctuary Ordinance for Mission Dispatch
Dean Kevin R. Johnson commented for the Mission Dispatch on the controversy surrounding San Francisco's "Sanctuary Ordinance," a 20-year-old city law barring city employees from arresting, stopping or questioning people based solely on their national origin or immigration status and forbidding the use of city money to help enforce federal immigration law, except as required by U.S. or state law. The ordinance is being challenged by the conservative group Judicial Watch in a suit alleging that state law requires police to notify federal authorities if a suspect in a drug case appears to be a noncitizen.
"What is being missed is that local policy involvement in immigration enforcement and removals may make it harder for law enforcement officers to convince immigrant communities to report crimes and cooperate with criminal investigations," Dean Johnson stated.
Kevin R. Johnson is dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o Studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.