Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno, 33 (pictured), from El Salvador, will receive $190,000 om San Francisco after police turned him over to immigration authorities in violation of the city's sanctuary law

A man who immigrated to the US illegally from El Salvador will receive $190,000 from San Francisco after police turned him over to immigration authorities in violation of the city's sanctuary law.

Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno, 33, reached the settlement agreement with the city attorney's office, said Saira Hussain, a staff attorney at the Asian Law Caucus who represented Zarceno.

'What happened to me was very unfair and it was an injustice,' Figueroa-Zerceno said.

'I went into the police station to seek help and they didn't tell me what was happening and they arrested me and treated me badly.'

The construction worker said he went to police in December 2015 after getting a call from authorities that his stolen car had been found.

Instead of helping him, he said, officers detained him and called immigration authorities.

He was taken into custody by federal authorities outside the police station and was in jail for two months. He has been fighting his deportation since his release.

'It's really important for San Francisco to remain a sanctuary city not in name only but also in practice,' Hussain told The San Francisco Examiner.

'Our hope is that the department is going to look into this further and really examine the way that the department can do more.'

Figueroa-Zarceno sued San Francisco in January for violating its sanctuary law.

City law prohibits law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration officials except when violent criminals are involved.

The agreement must be approved by the Board of Supervisors before Figueroa-Zarceno sees any money.

City law prohibits law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration officials except when violent criminals are involved. Figueroa-Zarceno (pictured right, on Thursday with attorney Saira Hussain) was in jail for two months and sued San Francisco in January for violating its sanctuary law

Part of the law's purpose was to encourage immigrants to report crimes they may be afraid of disclosing because of fear that investigating officers would turn them over to immigration authorities.

San Francisco's sanctuary law was thrust into the national debate on immigration after the July 2015 slaying of 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle.

The man charged with murder in Steinle's slaying, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, had been released by San Francisco sheriff's officials months earlier despite a request by immigration officials to keep him behind bars.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives approved two bills cracking down on illegal immigration, a key priority for President Donald Trump.

One of the bills, known as 'Kate's Law' - in honor of Steinle - would impose harsher prison sentences on deportees who re-enter the United States.

The second would bar states and localities that refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities from receiving certain Justice Department and Homeland Security grants, including some related to law enforcement and terrorism.