New S.F. sheriff to reverse ban on communicating with immigration

Sheriff-elect Vicki Hennessy iwaits to be sworn into office at city hall in San Francisco, California, on Friday, January 8, 2015. Sheriff-elect Vicki Hennessy iwaits to be sworn into office at city hall in San Francisco, California, on Friday, January 8, 2015. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close New S.F. sheriff to reverse ban on communicating with immigration 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

In one of her first acts in office, San Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy plans to reverse her predecessor’s policy barring deputies at the city jail from communicating with federal immigration agents — a policy that came under fire last year after a man wanted for deportation was released from jail and then was accused of killing a woman on Pier 14.

Hennessy, who was sworn in Friday, is working with her staff and legal counsel to develop a new policy that would roll back the controversial March 13 memo issued by former Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi banning all communication with immigration agents seeking to deport jailed suspects absent a warrant or court order, said Chief of Staff Eileen Hirst.

The move by Hennessy, who was highly critical of the memo throughout her campaign, further distances her from the turbulent tenure of her predecessor, but is likely to stir opposition from immigrant advocates, many of whom supported Mirkarimi’s directive.

It comes as Supervisor John Avalos introduced a city measure Tuesday that would govern how much deputies at the jail should interact with and cooperate with immigration agents. Hirst said Hennessy would work within any law enacted by the supervisors.

“Her commitment is to be compliant with all state, federal and local law,” Hirst said.

Mirkarimi’s memo

Mirkarimi issued his memo about a month before his department released Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, who had been brought to the city after serving 46 months in federal prison for re-entry into the country.

The federal government wanted to deport Lopez-Sanchez a sixth time, but Mirkarimi said a city sanctuary law — known as the Due Process for All Ordinance — restricted him from being held past his release date.

Critics of Mirkarimi, including Mayor Ed Lee, said the sheriff’s office could have simply picked up the phone, called immigration agents and told them to pick up Lopez-Sanchez prior to his release.

In July, Lopez-Sanchez was charged in the shooting death of 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle on Pier 14, which ignited a national debate about whether local authorities should cooperate with federal immigration.

Hennessy said during her campaign that Mirkarimi’s memo went well beyond the city’s sanctuary law, which states that the sheriff can hold for deportation only individuals in the country illegally who had been convicted of a violent felony in the past seven years and were facing another violent felony charge. The ordinance didn’t address prerelease notification to immigration agents.

Farrell’s plan tabled

Mirkarimi’s memo prohibited his deputies from giving federal immigration agents any information about detainees, including their citizenship status, their booking and arrest documents, and their release dates.

Three months ago, Supervisor Mark Farrell tried to bring about a board resolution that would call upon Mirkarimi to rescind the policy, but it was tabled on a 6-5 vote.

Avalos’ resolution would have prerelease notification follow the outline of the Due Process for All Ordinance. That would severely limit cooperation with immigration agents, and it’s not clear if any local criminal cases would qualify.

Hirst said Hennessy is in the early stages of developing a policy. Hennessy told The Chronicle in October that she favored standards for federal notification set out in the state Trust Act, which says that only immigrants with certain serious convictions on their record could be held for deportation — and that those requests should be treated as voluntary.

‘Case-by-case basis’

“I think it is appropriate to take a look on a case-by-case basis,” Hennessy said.

Lee, who called for Mirkarimi to rescind his policy in July, is supportive of Hennessy’s efforts, said Lee’s spokeswoman, Christine Falvey.

“The mayor understands that Sheriff Hennessy has immediately begun the process of replacing this policy and supports her work with other law enforcement experts to make sure it is replaced with a policy that protects public safety and upholds our city’s sanctuary city laws,” Falvey said.

Hirst said Hennessy will be meeting with immigrant advocates as she develops her policy. She had met in December with some advocates, who said they were dismayed to learn that reversing Mirkarimi’s policy would be one of her first acts in office.

Sandy Valenciano, an organizer for California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance, said allowing for communication with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will deepen mistrust of law enforcement in the immigrant community and prevent immigrants from reporting crimes, one of the chief tenets behind the city’s sanctuary policies.

Working with sheriff

“We hope to continue to remind the sheriff that she does have a responsibility to the community as well,” Valenciano said. “As much as case-by-case basis may sound like a midway compromise, it doesn’t work out that way. Once you open avenues of collaboration with ICE, they’re going to want to continue opening even more channels of collaboration. ... The fact is ICE has continued to prove itself to be unaccountable in its practices.”

Supervisor David Campos called Hennessy’s actions “a step in the wrong direction.”

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo