Immigration Policy

SF Weekly Letters

Funny Dinero

The mayor says the city won't help the Bushies crackdown on illegal immigrants--but why is SF still getting money from the feds then?

Immigrant Song

It's not just the national anthem being sung in Spanish that's got anti-immigration folks riled up. Which side of the fence are you on?

The Asylum Trap

Unscrupulous attorneys prey on immigrants seeking green cards with an expensive and fruitless legal scheme. Now 29 Mexicans have joined the disbarment case against one such lawyer.

The Identity Makers

In the age of terror, are the people who make fake identification documents for the Hispanic community noble public servants -- or national security risks?

Intended Consequences

Our supervisors tilt at a lot of silly windmills. But the city's recognition of Mexican consular IDs may help change national immigration policy for the better.

Shelter from the Storm

Should the U.S. give asylum to victims of domestic violence? A Mission District woman's case may help decide that question.

Torture of a Transsexual

In a landmark case, Amanda DuValle, allegedly brutalized in Nicaragua because she is a transsexual, escaped deportation from the U.S. by invoking the U.N. Convention Against Torture. But if she won, why is she still in jail?

Immigration Hide 'n' Seek

INS on offensive; Hispanic activists play defense

Give Me Your Healthy

The immigration crackdown has Latinos fleeing mainstream medicine

Rounding Up the Usual Sospechosos

Alleged misconduct by INS agents has activists in the Latino community angry

Right-Wing Institute Gearing Up 'To Take Down San Francisco' Over Sanctuary City Policy

Challengers to the city's proposed new sanctuary policy are already circling​You may remember the furor over the memo Mayor Gavin Newsom leaked from the city attorney stating the city would face a "likely legal challenge" if it changed the hard-line policy towards reporting undocumented juveniles ... More >>

Sanctuary Sellout

Before: S.F. coddled undocumented teen criminals. After: S.F. punishes undocumented teens who commit crimes (and some who don't, too).

Would U.S. Attorney's Departure Be Magic Bullet For Sanctuary City?

U.S. Attorney Joe Russoniello has worn out his welcome with sanctuary city proponents​By Evan HillNo matter how many aggrieved citizens and legal experts immigrant advocates trot before the public in support of Supervisor David Campos' new amendment to the city's sanctuary law, Mayor Gavin Newsom ... More >>

Stars Boycotting Arizona

​Looks like San Francisco citizens are not the only budding boycotters of Arizona's new immigration law. Montreal band Stars has publicly voiced their disapproval on Twitter saying: "We love AZ but until its racist new immigration law is repealed, stars (and many others) will boycott this state... ... More >>

Bookie Site Lays Odds on Controversial Arizona Immigration Law

Can I get some action here? ​If the 9-11 tragedy didn't prove Americans' indomitable will and heroic ability -- to make a buck off anything, this will. The bookmaking site youwager.com has commenced laying odds and taking bets related to the controversial Arizona immigration law that inspired San ... More >>

Muni To Cease Fare Evasion Saturation Stings

Ashley HarrellYou won't be seeing this anymore -- to the relief of fare-evaders and terrified immigrants​Transit riders who still haven't gotten their May Fast Pass can breathe easier. Due to complaints from the immigrant community, Muni is halting its saturation stings of buses for fare evaders, ... More >>

Badlands: From Ground Zero of the Immigration Crisis Along the Mexican Border

Ashley HarrellYou won't be seeing this anymore -- to the relief of fare-evaders and terrified immigrants​Transit riders who still haven't gotten their May Fast Pass can breathe easier. Due to complaints from the immigrant community, Muni is halting its saturation stings of buses for fare evaders, ... More >>

Worlds Apart

Federal law gives gay citizens with foreign partners tough choices: Leave the U.S.A. Lose your love. Break the law.

Is Philadelphia More Immigrant-Friendly Than San Francisco?

Does Philly's Michael Nutter have more spine than Gavin Newsom?​Philadelphia's deputy mayor said yesterday that his city will likely cease cooperating with federal immigration officials by sharing records of local arrests, a policy change that would put it in the vanguard of so-called "sanctuary c ... More >>

Police Chief George Gascon Says Arizona Immigration Law Lets Thugs Run Wild

...Gascon says Arizona law will lead to lawlessness​San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon -- known for locking horns with anti-immigrant demagogue Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County while Gascon served as chief of police in Mesa, Arizona -- said the Grand Canyon State's much-maligned immigra ... More >>

Swindler Dresses As Clown On Kiddie Bike To Impersonate Immigration Official

Oh look! Two immigration officials! ​The evidence is in: To immigrants, there is little difference between an immigration authority and a clown on a kiddie bike. That was the disguise Frank Salvador Solorza used when impersonating an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official and extorting ... More >>

What's a Little Marriage Fraud Between Amigos?

It's a felony, sure, but in the absence of real immigration reform, some young, assimilated illegal immigrants see it as their best path to citizenship.

Welcome to Mi Pueblito, Washington

The small-town, family-farm lifestyle that we love to celebrate is being preserved — thanks to Mexican immigrants.

Arizona Immigration Law's Appeal Will Come Through San Francisco

The immigration debate is coming our way...​In the wake of Arizona's passage of the draconian and controversial SB 1070, San Francisco kick-started the boycott bandwagon and Mayor Gavin Newsom forbade city officials to travel to the Grand Canyon State. Now that Arizona law will be traveling to San ... More >>

California Wants to 'Decriminalize' Immigrant Farm Workers

​The California Department of of Food and Agriculture calls for a sweeping effort to protect immigrant farm workers -- including those who traveled to the U.S. illegally -- in a new plan outlining the state's agricultural future.The plan, called AgVision 2030, asserts that immigrant labor is vital ... More >>

Held Captive

Coyotes who smuggle immigrants torture and extort their victims, helped by out government's failure to enact immigration reform.

Asylum Denied

Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum.

So You *Can* Opt Out of Secure Communities Fingerprinting Program. Will S.F. Be Allowed?

​Local officials are awaiting a response to San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey's letter yesterday, which once again asked federal immigration officials to allow San Francisco to opt out of the fingerprint ID program that targets illegal immigrants booked into jail. The request comes afte ... More >>

Conservative Immigration Think Tank Wants To Kill San Francisco's Federal Dollars

Sorry, Buster. No more money to keep you here...​San Francisco jails should lose roughly $750,000 in Department of Justice dollars. That's the gist of a  memo released this month by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Center for Immigration Studies, which accuses San Francisco ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales

Sorry, Buster. No more money to keep you here...​San Francisco jails should lose roughly $750,000 in Department of Justice dollars. That's the gist of a  memo released this month by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Center for Immigration Studies, which accuses San Francisco ... More >>

Mexican Macroeconomics

Sorry, Buster. No more money to keep you here...​San Francisco jails should lose roughly $750,000 in Department of Justice dollars. That's the gist of a  memo released this month by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Center for Immigration Studies, which accuses San Francisco ... More >>

Whose Dole Is It, Anyway?

Sorry, Buster. No more money to keep you here...​San Francisco jails should lose roughly $750,000 in Department of Justice dollars. That's the gist of a  memo released this month by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Center for Immigration Studies, which accuses San Francisco ... More >>

Return to Sender

Sorry, Buster. No more money to keep you here...​San Francisco jails should lose roughly $750,000 in Department of Justice dollars. That's the gist of a  memo released this month by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Center for Immigration Studies, which accuses San Francisco ... More >>

How Would Immigration Reform Look if the Feds Got Off Their Duffs?

Sorry, Buster. No more money to keep you here...​San Francisco jails should lose roughly $750,000 in Department of Justice dollars. That's the gist of a  memo released this month by the Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank Center for Immigration Studies, which accuses San Francisco ... More >>

DREAM Act Debacle: Lowell High School Grad Set For Deportation

Melissa Lee works the cameras​Congress failed again last month to corral the needed votes to put the DREAM Act back on the table -- and the fallout looks something like this: Eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Lee was on a successful trajectory; she had graduated from Lowell High School - the city's mos ... More >>

Gay Binational Couples Fighting Deportations On Obama's New DOMA Stance

​Gay couples are already using President Obama's new stance against the Defense of Marriage Act as a weapon to fight deportations of their foreign spouses. The couples hope that the administration's declaration last week that the law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman is uncon ... More >>

Gavin Newsom: Friend or Foe of Illegal Immigrant Youth?

Friend of students, foe of alleged felons.​Update: Newsom's spokesman responds. Read below.  Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has come out today supporting a group he threw the book at during his time as San Francisco mayor: illegal immigrant youth. Newsom has sent a letter to Assemblyman Gil ... More >>

U-Visa: Illegal Immigrants Become Legal Residents Via Crime Victimization

Friend of students, foe of alleged felons.​Update: Newsom's spokesman responds. Read below.  Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom has come out today supporting a group he threw the book at during his time as San Francisco mayor: illegal immigrant youth. Newsom has sent a letter to Assemblyman Gil ... More >>

DREAM Act Leader Prerna Lal to Be Deported

Me, scared?​While President Barack Obama voiced support for the DREAM Act today in Silicon Valley, one of the Bay Area's most vociferous leaders in the national student movement to get the bill passed is now facing deportation. If passed, the DREAM Act would pave the path of citizenship for any il ... More >>

Federal Fingerprinting Program May Still ID Illegal Immigrant Teens Shielded By City

Looking for the right fingerprints​This week Mayor Ed Lee announced the city would stop alerting federal immigration officials about illegal immigrant youth they book into juvenile hall on felony charges -- if the teens have family in the Bay Area.Even with this new policy, immigration authorities ... More >>

Carlos Santana Criticizes Georgia's New Immigration Law

"Really, Georgia?"​Beware, people of states with drastic immigration laws: Santana is angry with you.  Days after Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed off on a new Arizona-style regulation, Carlos Santana brought the immigrant-friendly spirit of Bay Area liberalism to baseball's yearly Civil Righ ... More >>

Luisa Argueta, DREAM Act Eligible Teen, Asks Sen. Feinstein to Stop Deportation

Luisa Argueta, center, and her mother, Brenda Gutierrez​Update, 5:30 p.m.: A Feinstein spokesperson says, "Senator Feinstein's office recently received information about the case and is currently reviewing the matter."Original post:A 19-year-old Antioch resident eligible for the DREAM Act is askin ... More >>

ICE Softens Its Stance on DREAM Act Kids, but Still Hazy On Gays

Can Anthony Makk, left, and Bradford Wells get a break? ​The DREAM Act kids seem to be getting a break, but what about gay couples? A memo sent on Friday from the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to tell immigration officers to have a little heart when it comes to enforcing ... More >>

Governor Jerry Brown Signs Slew of Illegal Immigrant-Friendly Bills

​While the federal government stagnates on any immigration reform, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bevy of illegal immigrant-friendly bills that will make their under-the-radar way of life less of a headache starting January 1, 2012. Opponents have already started filing in. Perhaps th ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

​While the federal government stagnates on any immigration reform, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bevy of illegal immigrant-friendly bills that will make their under-the-radar way of life less of a headache starting January 1, 2012. Opponents have already started filing in. Perhaps th ... More >>

Minhaz Kahn, DREAM Act-Eligible Neuroscience Grad, Set For Deportation

Minhaz Kahn is facing deportation on November 18. ​Federal immigration officials in San Francisco are ignoring a June memo from immigration authorities that deprioritizes deportation immigrants who came into the country as kids. In the most recent case, it's affecting a UC-Riverside neuroscie ... More >>

Minhaz Kahn, DREAM Act Eligible Student, Spared Deportation -- For Now

No deportation for Minhaz Kahn. But others might not be so lucky. ​A DREAM-Act-eligible recent college grad won reprieve on his deportation case earlier this week, yet the celebration ends there. San Francisco-based immigration officials warned attorneys that not all DREAM Act-eligible immigrants ... More >>

Anthony John Makk, Bradford Wells, Gay Binational Couple, Win DOMA Visa Fight

Anthony John Makk pictured left​Anthony John Makk -- the gay Australian national that has been fighting separation from his San Francisco spouse after his marriage visa petition was denied, won't be deported after all. The news came today when Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi told Makk and his partner o ... More >>