San Francisco’s Fentanyl Deportations Present Uncommon Unity With Trump

Liberal San Francisco is eyeing not less than one patch of frequent floor with President-elect Donald Trump. 

High officers within the metropolis — lengthy a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants — have embraced a Biden-era crackdown on fentanyl sellers that has despatched scores of migrants to deportation proceedings since final 12 months. Now the incoming mayor and different native leaders say they’re open to sustaining this system underneath Trump as they appear to deal with the town’s drug markets. 

“Imagine it or not there could also be some issues that we agree on right here,” Matt Dorsey, a member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, mentioned of the incoming administration. “Fentanyl dealing and fentanyl dependancy could also be an space the place there may be some settlement.” 

The deportations have sparked outrage from immigrant-rights advocates who say native legislation enforcement is working with federal authorities to avoid the town’s sanctuary coverage. Whereas concentrating on convicted drug sellers is much extra restricted than the mass deportations that Trump has proposed — and that San Francisco is probably going to withstand — the actions present how a resurgent tough-on-crime tone in Democratic strongholds is opening up uncommon probabilities for settlement with the GOP president. 

An identical recalibration is percolating across the nation as cities put together to navigate Trump’s upcoming second time period. In New York, Mayor Eric Adams has mentioned he’s open to deporting immigrants accused of crimes. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has mentioned that undocumented “violent criminals” needs to be deported. 

It’s unclear if Trump, who is anticipated to nominate a brand new US lawyer for Northern California, will proceed the cooperation with San Francisco’s district lawyer’s workplace. However the president-elect’s marketing campaign concentrate on tackling fentanyl aligns with the town’s crackdown. 

“President Trump will lever each energy essential to safe the border and cease lethal medicine from illegally coming into our nation,” mentioned Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition staff.

That units up a fragile balancing act for native officers in San Francisco. Pushed by fentanyl, overdoses killed 810 individuals within the metropolis final 12 months, though drug deaths have fallen sharply in current months. 

District Legal professional Brooke Jenkins mentioned in a press release that she’s keen to proceed working with federal authorities to make sure “dignified, protected neighborhoods that aren’t held hostage by unrepentant drug traffickers” though she added any cooperation with Trump stays unsure and wouldn’t violate the town’s sanctuary protections. 

Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie echoed that sentiment, saying US prosecutors “have that proper” to proceed this system, which has led to round 120 convictions and dozens of extra costs since its inception.

“They deport them,” he mentioned in an interview. “That has gone on for the final 12 months and so they have that proper. And in the event that they proceed to try this, they’ve that proper.” 

Lurie added that he helps the town’s sanctuary insurance policies, that are backed by state ordinances. The measures bar native legislation enforcement from working with immigration authorities generally. 

Loads of drug sellers are US residents, and San Francisco has been touting its broader efforts to crack down on them, too. However the fentanyl deportations sometimes contain younger Honduran migrants who’re arrested by native police after which charged by US prosecutors. 

As soon as in federal courtroom, most defendants settle for plea offers underneath a program referred to as “Quick Observe,” which ends up in one-day jail sentences that result in the particular person being handed over to immigration authorities.

Critics argue that the system pressures accused migrants into plea offers and glosses over points like human trafficking that pressure some migrants into drug dealing. A coalition of 32 advocacy organizations mentioned in a November letter that the crackdown “singles out and scapegoats the immigrant group” for the fentanyl disaster. 

“The District Legal professional’s ongoing collusion with the federal authorities to funnel individuals into immigration detention and deportation is very unconscionable within the face of threats of mass deportation and brazenly racist and xenophobic concentrating on of immigrants by President-elect Trump,” mentioned Angela Chan, an assistant chief lawyer within the San Francisco public defender’s workplace.

Among the many current instances is a Honduran man who crouched behind a wall with an undercover police officer and bought him $40 in fentanyl, in accordance with a felony criticism. The 21-year-old got here to the US for the primary time in current months and “isn’t a complicated drug supplier,” his public defender mentioned in a courtroom doc. 

As a part of his plea settlement “he will likely be rendered completely inadmissible to the US, which means that he will likely be barred from reentry for the remainder of his life,” the lawyer mentioned. 

The federal crackdown additionally ensnared a 9-months-pregnant girl who confronted a shock arrest in October when she appeared for a neighborhood courtroom listening to on drug-sale costs. The lady was held in a single day earlier than being launched, the general public defender’s workplace mentioned. 

In one other case, a San Francisco jury in September acquitted a Honduran man accused of drug dealing after discovering he had been coerced into promoting narcotics. 

On the political degree, the Board of Supervisors overwhelmingly rejected an effort by Dorsey in 2023 to amend the town’s sanctuary coverage to allow the deportation of convicted fentanyl sellers.

Whereas Dorsey has been among the many most vocal advocates for deporting the town’s convicted drug sellers, his frequent floor with Trump is unlikely to increase a lot additional. Dorsey’s boyfriend is a Brazilian immigrant with a pending asylum case, and he’s been clear that almost all migrants needs to be shielded from Trump’s broader deportation marketing campaign.

“It’s going to be a tightrope to stroll for the brand new mayor,” mentioned Dorsey. “It’s going to be a tightrope for all of us on the Board of Supervisors.”

With help from Marie Monteleone.

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