Vice President Kamala Harris supported sanctuary cities on multiple occasions, a stance she took during her tenure as San Francisco District Attorney.
This aspect of her progressive history is gaining renewed attention now that she is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2024 election following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal.
According to the New York Post, Harris, during her 2004 DA campaign, emphasized never imposing the death penalty and maintaining the city’s sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants. She argued that these policies enabled illegal immigrants to report crimes without fear of deportation. Additionally, she has labeled the border wall a “vanity project” and claimed illegal immigration is “not an emergency.”
FLASHBACK: Marxist Kamala Harris brags about being a "leader" in the push to "get rid of the cash bail system in America."
Kamala has backed sanctuary cities, defunding the police, ending cash bail, and more — she can't be trusted to keep our communities safe! pic.twitter.com/fz2e7ud4Vs
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 26, 2024
As the Democratic nominee in 2024, illegal immigration is a major concern for many Americans, and Harris’s past may pose challenges for her campaign. The Post highlighted several crimes involving illegal immigrants during her time as DA in San Francisco, where the individuals were not deported.
One notable case involved Edwin Ramos, an illegal immigrant who committed a triple murder in 2008, killing three members of the Bologna family. Ramos, known to law enforcement, had previous arrests for gang-related assault and attempted robbery but was not handed over to federal authorities due to city policy regarding minors. Following the murders, then-Mayor Gavin Newsom revised the policy to require reporting illegal immigrant minors who committed crimes to federal authorities. Danielle Bologna, a family member of the victims, criticized the non-deportation, stating, “And to think they didn’t deport him back, knowing that he did not have papers and he was here illegally, it is a big issue.”
Another case involved Rony Aguilera, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, who, as a juvenile, was not turned over to federal authorities after being found guilty of assault. Released in 2007, Aguilera was later involved in the gang-related murder of Ivan Miranda in 2008, attacking Miranda with a sword and nearly decapitating him. Aguilera was subsequently sentenced to 40 years in prison.
The Post detailed several other instances under Harris’s tenure as DA where deporting illegal immigrants involved in crimes might have led to better outcomes for victims. Critics have pointed out these cases, especially since Harris was appointed “border czar” by the Biden administration in 2021 to address the “root causes” of illegal immigration.
