Young offenders in SF illegally get no more break

In this Tuesday, March 25, 2008 file picture, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom addresses the Sacramento Press Club in Sacramento, Calif. Newsom, a Democrat best known for challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage early in his first term, filed papers on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 to form an exploratory committee so he can start raising money and conducting polls for a possible gubernatorial campaign. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

SAN FRANCISCO—Minors who commit crimes while in the United States illegally will be turned over to federal immigration officials, a reversal of a nearly 20-year-old San Francisco policy, Mayor Gavin Newsom said Thursday.

Under a loophole in the city's sanctuary policy for illegal immigrants, minors who committed crimes were being flown home or housed at the city's expense, Newsom said.

But now, "if you commit a felony, we will not become a safe harbor for you," he said.

The former policy came under fire last month after five young drug offenders from Honduras who were convicted in San Francisco escaped from a San Bernardino County group home where they had been sent by the city's juvenile probation department.

Newsom said the city had spent $2.3 million to house 162 illegal immigrant youths since 2005, and an additional $38,955 to fly juvenile offenders to Honduras, American Samoa and Mexico over the past two years.

The program grew out of a 1989 ordinance declaring San Francisco a sanctuary city. Adults who commit crimes are clearly exempted from protection, but the situation of minors was unclear under the rule, said Jeff Adachi, San Francisco public defender.

Turning over a minor for possible deportation did little to ensure "a positive outcome," while contacting the family and returning the child to them, which was the city's approach, had better results, he said.

San Francisco's juvenile probation director, William Siffermann, could not be reached for comment.

Federal immigration officials met Thursday with the city's juvenile probation department to outline how they would work together going forward, said Newsom. The mayor is considering a gubernatorial run in 2010 but insisted the decision to reverse the policy was not political.

"There was a loophole, and we're working with ICE to come up with the appropriate protocol," Newsom said. "No other mayor had tackled this -- we're the first administration in 20 years to take responsibility and move in a different direction."

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Associated Press writer Amy Taxin in Los Angeles contributed to this report.