San Francisco to Pay $190,000 to Undocumented Immigrant For Sanctuary Law Violation

A man who came from El Salvador to the United States, where he’s lived illegally for some time, was recently captured and turned over to immigration officials for processing.

But because San Francisco has a sanctuary city label, the man, Pedro Figueroa-Zarceno, 33, sued — and won.

He was awarded $190,000.

Unbelievable. This is backwards thinking — unlawful is lawful; lawful, unlawful.

From Fox News:

“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. The agreement must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

“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 city law.

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.

“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.”

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

Thank goodness the House, at President Donald Trump’s pressing, just passed a couple of bills barring the unfettered practice of cities to offer illegals sanctuary.

Here’s a video from January, when the illegal first filed the suit:

Again, from Fox:

“House Republicans took action Thursday to crack down on illegal immigrants and the cities that shelter them.

One bill passed by the House would deny federal grants to sanctuary cities and another, Kate’s Law, would increase the penalties for deported aliens who try to return to the United States.”