San Francisco had been a sanctuary city since 1989, meaning that police were not obligated to give any information to federal immigration authorities about interactions with undocumented residents of the city. The city’s policy was amended in 1992 to remove protections for criminal adult suspects, but the protection remained for arrested juveniles.

Newsom changed this policy in 2008 after a 21-year-old undocumented man was arrested for murdering three members of a San Francisco family. The man had previously been arrested as a youth at 17 and was found guilty of attempted robbery and assault, but he was never reported to federal immigration authorities. After Newsom’s change, the city began reporting arrested undocumented juveniles to ICE who were suspected of committing a felony, regardless of whether they were actually found guilty of a crime.

Harris’ comments mischaracterized her history on the policy. Reporting arrested undocumented juveniles to ICE was not an “unintended consequence” of the policy, it was the policy. Newsom and Harris have both since said that they supported the policy as a measure to protect San Francisco’s overall status as a sanctuary city, but the policy itself was enacted as ordered by the mayor.