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A public defender in San Francisco is pushing back on a newly proposed law that would target illegal immigrants convicted of selling fentanyl for deportation.
The law was proposed last week by Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who is himself a drug and alcohol addict in recovery, who says the law would be a ‘hard line’ against the individuals selling the addictive synthetic opioid that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Peter Calloway, a public defender in San Francisco, recently took a public stance against the new policy when he tweeted: ‘Supervisor Matt Dorsey seeks to end the city’s Sanctuary City policy for ppl accused of dealing fentanyl. Keep in mind that many such ppl deal under threat of violence to them/their families.’
His resistance follows the progressive bent of recalled San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who said that perhaps as many as 50 percent of drug dealers in SF are illegal Honduran migrants, many of whom were trafficked and depend on the money they make from peddling deadly narcotics to pay off the traffickers who got them to the US.
‘Ultimately, coming here and selling fentanyl on the streets is not the immigrant experience that we are trying to honor and affirm,’ said Dorsey. ‘If you take a look at the things for which sanctuary already doesn’t apply, fentanyl dealing belongs there.’
San Francisco Public Defender Peter Calloway who favors a system in which illegal fentanyl dealers are not reported to ICE
San Francisco has been experiencing an ongoing crisis of fentanyl and drug addiction on its streets for years
City Supervisor Matt Dorsey recently proposed a law under which illegal fentanyl dealers are flagged to ICE, which would undermine the city’s famed Sanctuary status
Popular Twitter voice and San Francisco-based businesswoman Michelle Tandler mocked Calloway’s complaints about the freshly proposed policy: ‘Won’t somebody think of the Fentanyl dealers?!’
‘This is the viewpoint of many progressive defenders in San Francisco, including our former DA,’ she wrote. ‘Apparently our sanctuary city policies keep us from deporting felons.’
Her own comment section as well as Calloway’s appeared to side with her.
‘How dare they?!?!? We must protect the fentanyl dealers at all costs! ESPECIALLY if they are here illegally. You people blow,’ wrote one user whose profile describes him as a ‘San Franciscan, who loves the city minus the leadership.’
‘What, you mean the criminal justice system is going to be used to protect San Francians from the purveyors of lethal drugs that are killing our down and out brothers and sisters?’ wrote Harvey B.
Changing slightly the parameters of the city’s sanctuary law, which generally prohibits SF authorities from notifying ICE that the city is releasing from jail an individual who the federal agency wishes to deport, would mean adults who are newly charged with fentanyl-dealing will be flagged to ICE.
The policy would add another carveout to a growing list of serious or violent crimes after which authorities are allowed to flag to ICE that someone they are in pursuit of is being released from jail.
The list currently includes: murder, rape, robbery, arson and carjacking.
The proposed policy would add fentanyl dealing to that list, if the dealer in question had also previously been arrested inside of the last seven years for the same crime.
Dorsey has said he is prepared for the proposal to ‘raise eyebrows’ among the progressive political class of the notoriously woke city, but argued that it is a ‘narrow and common-sense exception’ to the city’s sanctuary laws.
The drug crisis in San Francisco surged during COVID-19 lockdowns and is showing no signs of slowing down.
Fatal overdoses are up and local law enforcement have often failed to stop dozens of local dealers from operating openly, specifically in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, which has infuriated residents and business owners.
Dorsey says the law would be a ‘hard line’ against the individuals selling the addictive synthetic opioid that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans
Fentanyl has killed more than 1,400 people in SF since 2020 and the numbers are not abating
The city’s open air drug markets became more apparent during COVID and show no signs of slowing down
Tandler mocked Calloway’s push back to the proposal that would flag fentanyl dealers to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency
Last year, Breed said that ‘a lot’ of the city’s dealers are from Honduras, a comment for which she was made to apologize after it was branded ‘xenophobic and racist’ by the woke mob
Mayor London Breed, to whom Calloway has also offered robust criticism, says she wants to be aggressive about going after the individuals who pump deadly narcotics into the city’s illegal drug trade.
Her goals are ultimately to reduce addiction, overdose deaths and the harm caused by open-air drug markets.
In her ongoing battle against the illegal drug suppliers to her city, Breed will continue to contend with the woke voices which apparently prioritize the well-being of the dealers – especially the illegal ones – over the well-being of the city’s residents.
Last year, Breed said that ‘a lot’ of the city’s dealers are from Honduras, a comment for which she was made to apologize after it was branded ‘xenophobic and racist’ by the woke mob.
In addition to Calloway, SF Public Defender Mano Raju said last week that ‘criminalizing the supply does nothing to stop the demand’ and ‘attempts to threaten or diminish our historic and long-held Sanctuary Ordinance will be met with strong opposition by our office and the immigrant rights community.
‘Subjecting immigrants to double punishment and deportation is inhumane and xenophobic, and will harm immigrants who have been the victims of trafficking.’
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