As shocking as it must have been for the family of Kate Steinle to hear the not-guilty verdict handed down for their daughter's killer, the aftershocks could be even greater.

Steinle, 32, was fatally shot July 1, 2015, while walking with her father on Pier 14 in San Francisco, a notorious sanctuary city where known foreign criminals are shielded from deportation. She was shot accidentally, the jury decided, by Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a man who had been deported five times, only to re-enter the country illegally for a sixth time, despite having been convicted of seven felonies.

The fact that a jury did not feel compelled to convict such a man on second-degree murder or even involuntary manslaughter charges could end up being a watershed moment for a nation divided on the issue of immigration.

Historians will look back and say tough lessons were learned, causing sanctuary cities to rethink their policies, or the sanctuary movement continued unchecked, leading to further crime waves that gradually overwhelmed cities in certain parts of an increasingly Balkanized America.

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President Trump tweeted that the verdict was "disgraceful" while certain media personalities, such as CNN's Kirsten Powers, used their Twitter accounts to take aim at the president.

Jury found that the shooting was an accident. Nonetheless Trump repeatedly portrayed this as a vicious intentional murder (versus a tragic accident) in an effort to stir up bigotry against Mexicans. https://t.co/6dEEP8DTKs — Kirsten Powers (@KirstenPowers) December 1, 2017

William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration or ALIPAC, said the verdict marks a failure of government at all levels, from the city and state up to the federal immigration system and the courts.

Gheen says the Trump administration must make a stand in the wake of the Steinle verdict.

"The Trump administration must use everything at its disposal to file federal charges and bring justice to this poor family," Gheen told WND. "When the Obama administration didn't get its way in the courts they came calling with hate-crime charges, civil rights lawsuits, etc. I believe Kate Steinle's civil rights were violated. And I can't think of a better way for President Trump to make his campaign promises real, instead of just tweets, than to have Attorney General Jeff Sessions file new charges."

Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores told Fox News Friday that's exactly what Sessions has planned.

“We’re looking at every option and we will prosecute this to the fullest extent of the law because these cases are tragic and entirely preventable,” Flores said on “Fox & Friends” Friday.

She urged local governments to “reconsider” sanctuary policies.

“This is a person who had been deported five times — he knew about San Francisco’s sanctuary policies and said that's why he decided to go there . This is a person that never should have been on that pier, and Kate Steinle would still be alive,” she said.

A federal district court has already struck down Trump's attempt to defund sanctuary cities through executive order.

10,000 'preventable crimes'

The ball now rests in Congress' hands, said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.

"This outcome only magnifies the need for the federal government to impose some consequences for sanctuary policies and for Congress to give the Trump administration the money they need to improve border security and interior enforcement," Vaughan told WND. "Americans are outraged at this episode and want to see action. I wish the verdict were different, but it has elevated the case for the Trump administration’s enforcement agenda, and voters should make sure their members of Congress get the message too. "

According to ICE, since 2014 there have been 10,000 criminal aliens released by sanctuary policies who subsequently committed new crimes after their release – that’s 10,000 preventable crimes.

"Addressing the problems in our immigration system that allowed all this to happen should be a top priority for Congress, not rushing to pass a DACA amnesty, as some members have called for," Vaughan said.

Time for light to shine on illegal-immigrant crimes

Gheen said it's time that the dark secrets of illegal-immigrant crime be exposed.

"The fact that they would not let this jury hear about and consider the seven felonies and five deportations of the suspect is the name of the game across America," he said. "There are people like Kate Steinle who will be murdered in America today and that information will be kept from us all by people with a similar political viewpoint as the judge in this case.

"The level of protection and special legal considerations given to illegal immigrants surprised Steinle's family and deprives all Americans of justice and protection that we deserve, and the state of California just sent a message to all illegal aliens that you can slaughter U.S. citizens and the government will protect you, the government and the media and the socialist Democrats and RINOs. Their cheap labor, cheap votes invasion is more important to them than any number of American lives, and this is the fight. This is where it's at."

'This is why Trump won!'

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro told Fox News that "the basic notion that an illegal immigrant can commit crimes in this country and then reenter the country at will is why President Trump won" while responding to the not guilty verdict in Kate Steinle murder trial, reports The Hill.

“Whether he meant to shoot her or whether he just meant to discharge the firearm is no consequence. When you pick up that gun and you know that it has the possibility of firing and it fires, this is the very best involuntary manslaughter," Shapiro told Shannon Bream of Fox News.

Shapiro said President Trump ought to push for the construction of the wall and "ought to make sure the American people are safe from predators like this one."

An 'amnesty' Christmas present from Congress?

But don't expect Congress to get the hint.

Instead of defunding sanctuary cities, the Republican-held Congress is pushing for amnesty for the approximately 750,000 DACA young people in the country illegally. DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

"The people pushing DACA amnesty are part of the problem that manifested in Kate Steinle's death and loss of justice," Gheen said. "The number of crossings at the border dropped dramatically but now they're back up to high levels because Congress and the White House keep talking about providing amnesty, and right now they plan to pass amnesty before Christmas."