mr. lopez sanchez for failure to appear on felony charges of possession, for sale to sale marijuana. bail was set at $5,000. between 1998 and 2011, lopez sanchez was sentenced to federal court i am sorry, he was sentenced to federal custody four times. according to ice in that period of time and beyond that period of time. he had been deported from the united states five times. on march 23rd moving forward, 2015 the san francisco sheriff's department received a telephone call from the federal bureau of prisones in victorville, they called us first and we'll present the log and warrant log sheet where the call came in. federal bureau of prisones requested conif you rememberation for an outstanding 1995 felony warrant for lopez sanchez for possession of marijuana and sale of marijuana. based upon the federal bureau of prison's request to confirm that the warrant was still in effect in san francisco, the sheriff's department followed established protocols whenever a warpt and a bench warrant, not a da warrant. when a bench warrant is confirmed and requested a full and arranged transporta

mr. lopez sanchez so that when san francisco finished its prosecution then it would turn mr. lopez sanchez back over to i.c.e. for deportation. and then what happened was after mr. lopez sanchez was in the custody of san francisco county the authorities there decided not to prosecute him. which meant that he was eligible for release. and ideally it would have been to i.c.e. which had the detainer in place. however, due to its local politics san francisco county had a situation, a sanctuary policy, where they just did not honor those warrants. and so it was not -- so i go through that to say that it was not the fault of i.c.e. or it was not a breakdown in federal immigration enforcement that resulted in -- that resulted in kathrine steinle's murder allegedly by mr. lopez sanchez. it was not the fault of your department although they're trying to make it appear to be that way. and in fact under this president there have been -- this president is now known as the deporter in chief. why is that mr. johnson? is it because over 2 million people have been deported under his presidenc

mr. sanchez mr. lopez-sanchez. after they took custody of him ice had a war for a to tenant -- warrant launched against mr. lopez-sanchez that when san francisco finished its prosecution that it would turn mr. lopez-sanchez act over to ice for deportation. what happened was that after mr. lopez-sanchez was in the custody of san francisco county, the authorities there decided not to prosecute him. which meant that he was eligible for release. ideally, it would've been through ice, which had the detainer in place. however, due to its local politics, san francisco county had a situation or sanctuary policy where they did not honor those warrants. i go do that to say that it was not the fault of ice or it was not a breakdown in federal immigration enforcement that resulted in mr. -- catherine st einle 's murder allegedly by mr. lopez-sanchez fit it was not the fault of your department although they try to make it appear that way. in fact, under this president there have been -- this president is now known as the deep or

mr. lopez-sanchez's statement or status. this bill, dealing with sanctuary cities and removing all opportunity for such cities, and frankly, we all agree that connotes a problem for many. it suggests you are giving sanctuary to everybody. crooks and criminals, bad actors. i want you to realize that is not the case. it was utilized in a time when people came that did not speak in bush. they were -- english. they were preyed upon. law enforcement had to find out who did it. i want to ask the chief -- i am not seeing the name -- i will call it in a moment. did i characterized -- we are not giving sanctuary to crooks and criminals. >> i cannot quite hear your question. ms. lee: with respect to sanctuary cities we are not attempting to give -- and i do not particularly hold to the name -- it comes on a religious basis, sanctuary, and i appreciate my faith community who started out trying to help people in need. my question to you, in law enforcement, it is not a refuge for crooks and criminals. is that correct? that is not the de

mr. lopez sanchez was brought here on a 10-year-old warrant for marijuana possession. we don't even prosecute marijuana in san francisco basically for possession. >> why are they in our custody for a two decades old drug case? that needs to be asked. >> we have now learned it was a sheriff's department staffer that put in a written request to federal officials to have francisco sanchez transferred to san francisco. that was march 23rd. he was wrapping up a federal prison sentence in southern california but he still had an outstanding warrant for a marijuana drug charge here. and once he was transferred, local prosecutors dropped it. afterwards, the sheriff's department claims it had no legal grounds to hold him and they released him on april 15. chef ross mirkarimi was supposed to give a press conference today explaining his side of the story and the sheriff canceled in light of the steinle funeral services. >> thank you. >>> damaging charges against ray mcdonald. there are new details about the clash that cost the ex-49er his nfl career. what he is accused of doing af

mr. lopez-sanchez's background would come forward and why in the hell does he need to be on the books. he is in the bureau of prisons. and you had him and you let him go. which brings me to my favorite phrase mr. speaker sanctuary cities. it has almost a utopian sound to it doesn't it? well as the speaker knows, the definition of sanctuary is a place of refuge and safety. my folks in fran and my colleagues who support this policy, is a refuge for whom? a sanctuary for whom? a refuge for kate steinle? a sanctuary for kate steinle or a refuge for a convicted felon with a 25-year-long criminal history? so the phrase sounds benign. but it was no sanctuary for her. it may have been for him. but it sure as hell wasn't for her. mr. speaker, my message to san francisco would be simple, you won't honor our detainers, we won't honor your warrants. if detainers are too much for you to handle perhaps federal money will be too much undocumented immigrants. now that house hearing. it is about two hours. >>> the immigration subcommittee will come to order. i want to start this morning with a matter o

mr. lopez sanchez. in fact, i share it. obviously he's been accused of murder and even when we have a situation like this, we have to have a trial. but i believe personally that he is guilty based on all the evidence. i believe he should not have been out on that street in san francisco. and if you look at his record, and i'll go through it a little bit it actually makes certain points. i've heard people say, well, we've got open borders and that's why he was here. in fact, that's not the case. this individual attempted to enter the united states repeatedly and he was caught by the border patrol, just as they're supposed to do their job, and what happened then? he was deported repeatedly in the 1990's, and then they started prosecuting him for felony re-entry after removal. he served 16 years in federal prison for the felony of re-entering after removal. so our laws went after him. he should not have been released in san francisco. but i think some of what we need to do, see what policies would have kept him off that street

mr. lopez sanchez so that when san francisco finished its prosecution, then it returned mr. -sanchez back over to i.c.e. for deportation. and then what happened was after mr. lopez-sanchez was in the custody of san francisco county, the authorities there decided not to prosecute him. and which met that he was eligible for release. and ideally it would have been to i.c.e. which had the detainer in place. however, due to its local politics, san francisco county had a situation, a sanctuary policy where they just did not honor those warrant. and so it was not so i go through it to say that it was not the fault of i.c.e. it was not a breakdown in federal immigration enforcement that resulted in that resulted in kate steinle is murder by allegedly, by mr. lopez-sanchez. it was not the fault of your department, although they're trying to make it appear to be that way and in fact under this president there have been this president is now known as the deep order in chief. why is that? >> -- deep order. is because over 2 million people have been deported under his presidency, which is

mr. lopez sanchez are going to keep coming back. you have to secure the border. he also said it would have encreased penalties for passport and immigration document trafficking and fraud. yeah, like that would have stopped him. he came back across illegally five times. it wasn't a passport issue. it's pretty dramatic what kinds of things have occurred. i also filed a bill today, got some co-sponsor, regarding the district of columbia. the district of columbia, by authority of the constitution that was empowered to congress, we set up local control and so some would say well, wait a minute. if you're trying to punish a sang ware city like the district of columbia, the only real federal city in the country, the only real city under congressional constitutional control, why don't you just leave it to the locals. well, we did. the local officials allowed it to become a sang ware city that was not enforcing the law. so the bill passed today wasn't near as tough as i felt like it should have been. wasn't near as tough of a bill as the king amendment had been that we pr

mr. lopez-sanchez? >> i have. >> he was a career criminal violating three separate statutes when we picked up the gun before shooting and killing an innocent woman walking with her father. to me he is exhibit a that we must not have functional control over the border not have rerentered so many times. >> kate steinle's family spoke to bill o'reilly saying they support kate's law that would impose a five year prison sentence on illegal allyiens to five years in prison if coming back after being deported. >> we feel the federal and state laws are here to protect us but this particular set of circumstances and the people involved the different agencies let us down. >> senator will the tragic killing of this young woman bring about changes in the immigration laws in the country? >> i hope so. at the end of the day it is broken. it is not going to get fixed until somebody comes up with a solution. it has to be more than securing your border. they come here to work. if you don't control who gets a job you wil

mr. lopez sanchez mr. ice's highest priority due to previous felony convictions and prior deportations.ontend and will continue to do so ice failed to obtain and provide a warrant or judicial order for such deportation proceedings. why would they have completely ignored the 20-year-old bench warrant for marijuana possession and sales previously and then had deported him and this time they decide that this warrant required a detour from their normal procedure? >> let's discuss this case now. joining me now we have paul butler, a law professor at the georgetown law school and we have defense attorney scott boulden. so there's a lot of finger pointing here going on gentlemen, that's very clear. paul you were a federal prosecutor. according to this law, who is right? should san francisco have reached out to ice? i would suspect not because it's a sang chir city right? or should ice have figured out a way to deal with this knowing there were old warrants? >> well ice certainly could have gotten a warrant. san francisco's position is look this guy was being held for a 20-year-old charge for s

mr. lo lopez-sanchez background makes you think he would come forward? he is in the bureau of prisons. and you had him. and you let him go. the speaker knows the definition of sanctuary is safety or refuge. and this is a policy -- refuge for whom? a sanctuary for kate? or a refuge for a convicted felon with a 25-year long criminal history. so the phrase sounds benine. there was no sanctuary for her. my message to san francisco is if you cannot stop this you will not get anymore money. >> there are 300 cities that have ordinances that allow local law enforcement to not enforce federal immigration laws. the hill writes those laws are aimed at encouraging illegal immigrants to report crime to the police. we will watch the meeting on sanctuary cities chaired by representative gowdy who we just heard from. it includes testimony by kate steinle's father. the full hearing was held this week whose testimony from other families had children killed by undocumented immigrants. now that house hearing. it is about two hours. >>> the immigration subcommittee will come to order. i want to start this

mr. lopez sanchez he had committed some drug offenses and he had committed the offense of illegally entering the united states. he had not committed murder, but this whole debate about how serious a crime you have to commit before you can be subject to the enforce. of the laws which apply to everybody, gets to be problematic, doesn't it? >> well, mr. chairman, if i may our intent was kate's law is to get rid of or do something with the violent felon. the way i understand the law is, if any undocumented person comes into the united states and subsequently is deported, then comes back into the united states they're a felon. >> that's correct. and they -- we don't have to have committed any other time. they're a felon. >> they're a felon. >> would impose a mandatory minimum sentence. >> where i see that we have to home in on is a felon is not a felon is a felon. we're talking about violent felons that come in here, into the united states. if we try to arrest every felon the jails would be full and the officers here would be extremely busy. think we need to differentiate somehow or another the l

mr. lÓpez sÁnchez.was not all of your department although they are trying to make it appear to be that way. and in fact under this president there has been -- this president is known as the reporter in chief. why is that a map and is it because over 2 million people have been deported under his presidency, which is more than what was deported under the previous administration with 17 months left on this term. is that the reason why it is known as this? >> let me answer your question and then let me say two things. first, as i have mentioned i believe that it is important that we focus the deportation resources on threats to public safety and with the new policy i believe that we are doing that increasingly so. so a higher percentage of those venues to be the case are those that are in my top two priorities for removal. 76% of those today are in my top priority and i think that what we need to do is evaluate carefully whether it is appropriate in every case or a criminal warrant to be a priority over and

mr. lopez sanchez met ice's highest priority due to previous felony convictions and prior deportations. however, as i contend and i will continue to do so, ice failed to obtain and provide a warrant or judicial order for such deportation proceedings. why would they have completely ignored the 20-year-old bench warrant for marijuana possession and sales previously and then had deported him and then this time they decide that this warrant required a detour from their normal procedure? recommendations. and this is important because what we are are seeing everywhere is a lot of finger pointing. what we are seeing is a lot of distortion of facts. and what we are not hearing i think is the summoning of the collective wisdom to help us understand and improve upon the inherent conflicts between local state, and federal law and the deficiencies that continue to propel this tension. >> chronicle henry lee is covering this story. he joins us. henry, do you know the answer to the question that the sheriff sort of just posed which is this: is that when the feds released him to the sheriff is that th

mr. lopez sanchez. immigration reform efforts like h.r. 15 which is the comprehensive bill from last congress would modernize our immigration agencies increase enforcement, and resources tools, technology and border security to prevent tragedies like this from occurring. but doing the difficult work of having a meaningful debate around immigration reform is the only way we can ever be able to keep americans safer and reduce the likelihood of this kind of incident. a vote for this particular bill won't do anything to address these systemic problems. had this been the law it would not have prevented this tragedy, nor does it do anything to address the problems plaguing our immigrationcies tefment instead it threatens and bullies local law enforcement and says to them either expose yourself to civil liability which is very real. my agencies in colorado have been forced to pay, they have been forced to pay $30,000, $40,000. pay legal fines or we are going to cut your grants. look, it's a natural tendency of

mr. lopez sanchez' statement or status. this bill dealing with the sanctuary cities and removing all opportunity for cities and frankly, why don't we all agree that name can notes a problem for many. because it suggests that you are giving sanctuary to everybody has a right to stay under that umbrella, crooks and criminals and bad actors and i want you to know that is absolutely not the case. it was utilized in a time when people came and did not speak english and they were preyed upon. the only way the law enforcement officers could do their effective job was to be able to find out who did it. so i want to ask chief, is that chief -- yeah, i'm not seeing the name, i'm looking for my list. i always like to call the name, but i'll call it in a moment, but, yes. did i, characterize the way that the, if we use a different term other than sanctuary we're not giving sanctuary to crooks and criminals, are we? >> can't quite hear your question. >> with respect to sanctuary cities, with respect to sanctuary cities we're not attempt

mr. lopez sanchez. senator sessions. senator session: thank you senator feinstein. and you made some important points. i would note that san francisco proudly calls itself a sanctuary city. they are not hiding it. they are proud of it. they directed their police chiefs and police officers to act in that accord, too. we are focused, i think, more today on the sheriff's department who even the mayor has concluded acted improperly. i would offer for the record a letter just a week ago on behalf of the san francisco deputy sheriffs that work for the sheriff there, and that letter to the sheriff says this, as evidence by the tragic death of kate steinle on july 1, to coordinate much less cooperate with law enforcement agencies, recklessly compromises the safety of sworn personnel, citizens, and those who merely come to san francisco area. this association hereby demands the department immediately rescind the directives and comply with the statutory and contractual obligations to meet and confer in good faith. they go over, say moreover, it is the association's sincere be

mr. lopez sanchez, he had committed some drug o tenses and committed the offense of illegal illegally entering the united states. he had not committed murder at that point in time, but this whole debate about how serious a crime you have to commit before you can be subject to the enforcement of the laws that you apply to everybody gets to be problematic, doesn't it? >> well, mr. chairman, if i may, our intent with -- is to get rid of or do something with the violent fellens. the way i understand the law is is if any undocumented person comes into the united states and subsequently is is deported, then comes back into the united states, they're a felon. >> that's correct. >> don't have to commit any other crime. they're a felon at that point. would impose a mandatory minimum sentence. >> where i see the that we have to hone in on is a felon not a felon is a felon. we're talking about violent felons that, that come in here to the united states. if we try to arrest every felon, the jails would be full and the officers here would be extremely busy. i think we need to dif wrenn rate some how or ano

mr. lopez sanchez. senator sessions. >> thank you senator feinstein. you've made some important points. i would note san francisco proudly calls itself a sanctuary city. they're not hiding it. they're proud of it. and directed their police chiefs and police officers to act in that accord too. we are focused i think more today on the sheriff's department who even the mayor has concluded act the improperly. i would offer for the record a letter just a week ago on behalf of the san francisco deputy sheriff that worked for the sheriff there. and that letter to the sheriff says this as evidenced by the tragic death of kate steinle on july 1st the department's refusal to coordinate much less cooperate with federal law enforcement agencies recklessly compromises the safety of sworn personnel, citizens and those who merely come to san francisco area. this association hereby demands that the department immediately rescind the directives and comply with the statutory and contractual obligations to meet and confer in good faith. and they go over to say moreover it is the association's sincere beli

mr. francisco lopez sanchez a five time in a legal convicted interest some members on this panel could have won that case in court. >> that is my understanding. >> why a detainer? why not a warrant? >> i don't claim to be an insider but there were certain they failures but it is overarching policy level decision to not challenge nor in force contrarian bias that is in part to the suspect. >> even in a sanctuary cities would have to honor a federal warrant? >> because the bureau of prisons have honored a local warrants. >> yes. we had a discussion why don't you just trade the eddy cater process and to probable cause to be previewed by a magistrate but there are 93 federal districts in this country including three territories and if we would supply one additional magistrate i assure they could handle the workload to review the probable cause day cater declarations. it is easily fixable there just has to be the political will to do that. >>. >> sam francisco decided to dismiss the warrant? >> a. >> guy would be shocked if it would have gone forward but they could add of dismiss it with one mon

mr. lopez sanchez. senator sessions. senator session: thank you, senator feinstein. you made some important points. i would note that san francisco proudly calls itself a sanctuary city. they are not hiding it. they are proud of it. they directed their police chiefs and police officers to act in that accord, too. we are focused, i think, more today on the sheriff's department who even the mayor has concluded acted improperly. i would offer for the record a letter just a week ago on behalf of the san francisco deputy sheriffs that work for the sheriff there and that letter to the sheriff says this, as evidence by the tragic death of kate stein --le -- steinle on july 1 to coordinate much less cooperate with forle law enforcement agencies, recklessly compromises the safety of sworn personnel, citizens, and those who merely come to san francisco area. this association hereby demands the department immediately rescind the directives and comply with the statutory and contractual obligations to meet and confer in good faith. they go over, say moreover it is the association

mr. front cisco sanchez lopez, lopez sanchez, correct? it's a five-time convicted illegal entrant. i think some of the members of this panel could have won that case in court. we had probable cause. >> that is my understanding. >> why not a warrant? why a detainer? >> you know i wouldn't claim to be an insider in the dynamics. i've talked to some friends in i.c.e. about that case. there were certainly failures but it's an overarching decision to not challenge or enforce the existing immigration laws or challenge contrary laws that led to part to the release of this suspect. >> but surely even sanctuary cities like san francisco would have to honor a federal warrant. >> clearly. >> because the bureau of prisons honored a local warrant. >> yes, sir. we've head this discussion about why don't you create the detainer process into a probable cause declaration and have them reviewed by a magistrate. caseload prohibitive. if we were to supply one additional magistrate to each of the districts i'm sure they could handle the workload of reviewing the probable cause detainer declarations. th

lopez sanchez with a translator standing by pleaded not guilty. bail was set at $5 million. outside the courtroom, san francisco public defender jeff adachi said the bail was set too high. >> mr. sanchez was only in san francisco for a very short period of time. he has no convictions in the state of california. this very well could be a completely accidental discharge of a firearm. >> reporter: assistant district attorney then spoke to reporters. >> today is about kate, it's about this incredible family that has shown such strength in this incredibly difficult time. it's about bringing justice to that family. >> reporter: sanchez admitted during a jail house interview sunday that he shot kate steinly. >> did you shoot kate steinly, the lady who was down on pier 14? >> yes. >> you did shoot her? >> sanchez said he found the gun wrapped in a t-shirt on pier 14 and the gun accidentally went off. >> boom, boom, three times. >> reporter: three shots he told us but witness told us they only heard one shot. his story has many inconsistencies but his record has none. five previous deportations and his release from san francisco sheriff's custody in march, even though i.c.e. had a det

lopez sanchez pleaded not guilty in spanish. the charge? murder with a gun enhancement. outside of the courtroom, public defender said the bail was set too high. >> mr. sanchez is only in san francisco for a very short period of time. he has no convictions in the state of california. >> assistant district attorney spoke to reporters. >> today is about faith, an incredible family that has shown strength in this difficult it's about bringing justice to that family. >> francisco sanchez admitted during a jail house interview he shot kate steinly. >> did you shoot kate steinly? the lady on pier 14? >> yes. >> you did shoot her? >> sanchez says he found the gun in a tee shirt in a bench wednesday, the day of the shooting and that the gun accidentally went off. his story has many inconsistency inconsistencies. but his record has not. five five previous deportations and release from custody from ice his record ignited a national fire storm. san francisco police officer association fired off this blistering letter reading in part sanchez is an illegal alien, not an undocumented immigrant. and if he was where he belonged mexico this innocent victim would sti

lopez sanchez pleaded not guilty in spanish. the charge? murder with a gun enhancement. outside of the courtroom, public defender said the bail was set too high. >> mr. sanchez is only in san francisco for a very short period of time. he has no convictions in the state of california. >> assistant district attorney spoke to reporters. >> today is about faith, an incredible family that has shown strength in this difficult time. it's about bringing justice to that family. >> francisco sanchez admitted during a jail house interview he shot kate steinly. >> did you shoot kate steinly? the lady on pier 14? >> yes. >> you did shoot her? >> sanchez says he found the gun in a tee shirt in a bench wednesday, the day of the shooting and that the gun accidentally went off. his story has many inconsistency inconsistencies. but his record has not. five five previous deportations and release from custody from ice his record ignited a national fire storm. san francisco police officer association fired off this blistering letter reading in part sanchez is an illegal alien, not an undocumented immigrant. and if he was where he belonged mexico this innocent victim wou

lopez sanchez pleaded not guilty in spanish. the charge? murder with a gun enhancement. outside of the courtroom, public defender said the bail was set too high. >> mro for a very short period of time. he has no convictions in the state of california. >> assistant district attorney spoke to reporters. >> today is about faith, an incredible family that has shown strength in this di

that lopez sanchez was released but we had a telephone conference with dhs officials and my congressional staff asked last tuesday even if they have released mr. sanchez to i.c.e., the i.c.e.'s answer was likely i.c.e. would have released him to san francisco. because of the outstanding criminal warrant despite san francisco being a known sanctuary cities, that does not comply with retainers and routinely released hardened criminals. does it make sense to release a hardened criminal to a jurisdiction that will never return him to you for deportation purposes. >> no. >> how often does i.c.e. release such criminal aliens to sanctuary cities? >> i don't know. but no to your first question. >> so if it doesn't make sense, why is i.c.e. saying they would have released him to -- >> i was not part of the conversation with your congressional staff, sir, but i stand by my answer. >> but you stand by your answer but that is not your policy. it is great to come here to congress and give us an answer when the policy of the administration is to release the people to the sanctuary cities. >> like i said. it does not make sense to -- in response to your que