San Francisco released Francisco Sanchez because it is a "sanctuary city." San Francisco police arrested Francisco Sanchez back in March for an outstanding drug warrant, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told NBC Bay Area, but then he was set free even though he was supposed to be turned over to immigration officials who wanted to deport him back to Mexico.
The man accused of gunning down a 32-year-old Pleasanton woman while she was out strolling San Francisco's Embarcadero with her father was in a Bay Area jail four months ago and should have been turned over to federal immigration officials upon his release, instead of being sent free, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
But that's not the way the San Francisco County Sheriff's Legal Counsel Freya Horne sees it. In an interview Friday with NBC Bay Area, she said the city and county of San Francisco are sanctuaries for immigrants, and do not turn over undocumented people – if they don't have active warrants out for them – simply because immigration officials want them to.
Still, Horne said she realized that letting Sanchez out of jail on April 15 after not being charged with marijuana sales is a shame. Sanchez was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly killing 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle of Pleasanton as she was walking on Pier 14 with her dad after dinner.
Francisco Sanchez, who is either 45 or 46, was taken into custody after witnesses described him to police, and according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he is an illegal immigrant with a long criminal history who has previously been deported to Mexico five times.
"It's a tragedy," Horne said. "We all recognize that. But we followed city policy."
But, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice told NBC Bay Area on Friday that Sanchez should have been returned to her agency's custody, because he had a "detainer" on his status in jail.
He was an "enforcement priority," Kice said. But Horne said that San Francisco treats these detainers as requests, not mandates.
Federal records show Sanchez has seven prior felony convictions, four of which were for drug charges. Records indicate his convictions took place in states including Texas, Oregon and Arizona.
Police have described the shooting as random. Kathryn Steinle's father, Jim Steinle, said she was taken in the prime of her life. "She had so much to live for and died so senselessly,” he said Thursday. “It’s terrible.”
San Francisco Police Officer Grace Gatpandan reiterated to NBC Bay Area that the shooting was not robbery-related and "nothing was taken." She added that it appears as though no "words were exchanged" between Steinle and Sanchez.
San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr told NBC Bay Area that prosecutors, back in April, declined to charge Sanchez with any crime for the marijuana sales, and the jail, which is run by the sheriff, never notified police, which is standard protocol.
Gatpandan added that San Francisco is a "sanctuary city, so we do not hand over people to ICE." She also said that the police are "not responsible" for Sanchez once he is booked into county jail, "meaning we do not have control over his release."
Sanctuary cities, which are dotted throughout the United States, don't inquire about an immigrant's status for the federal government. It has no legal meaning, but is a de facto practice of a particular city.
San Francisco's particular ordinance is called the "Due Process Ordinance for All on Civil Immigration Detainers."
NBC Bay Area's Cheryl Hurd and Mark Matthews contributed to this report.
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