SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids intensify throughout the country, San Francisco city officials are making their stance clear.
"First and foremost, we are a sanctuary city," Supervisor Shamann Walton said.
In 1989, San Francisco passed the City and County of Refuge Ordinance or Sanctuary Ordinance. On Tuesday, the board of supervisors voted to reaffirm this.
"In San Francisco, we value our immigrant communities," SF Mayor Daniel Lurie said. "We recognize your contributions to our city, and we stand with you. You belong here."
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Standing next to some of the most influential leaders of the city, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu explained what this means.
"Our policy simply says you cannot deputize local law enforcement as ICE agents," Chiu said. "With scarce resources, we have to prioritize those resources to fight crime not break up families."
According to the Migration Policy Institute in 2019 there were an estimated 43,000 people in the city counted as "Unauthorized Population." It's unclear how much the population changed in the years following the pandemic, but as immigration raids loom local law enforcement highlighted their positions.
"The San Francisco Police Department does not assist in immigration raids," SFPD Chief Bill Scott said.
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"My office is unique in that we are, through the ordinance, the only office that may contact federal immigration officials if they ask when a serious or violent felon is leaving our custody," SF Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said. "And only if that person meets very specific criteria defined in local law will we inform ICE of that person's release date."
San Francisco's District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is urging the immigrant community to report any crimes without fear.
"My office is doing nothing in coordination with any federal immigration enforcement whatsoever that you are safe to come forward and that we will protect our victims and witnesses," Jenkins said.
The Trump administration has been vocal about sanctuary cities, recently prompting federal prosecutors to investigate officials who interfere with immigration enforcement operations and threatening them with criminal charges.
"Eight years ago, when Donald Trump first came into office he came after San Francisco, he tried to cut off federal funding because we are a sanctuary city," Chiu said. "The lawyers in my office stood up, fought back and we won. I'm here to tell you that we will do it again if we have to."