House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she is in favor of San Francisco's policy of not enforcing federal immigration laws, which made national news when an illegal alien allegedly shot and killed a woman earlier this month.
"I support the sanctuary," Pelosi said,
according to the Washington Times.
There are
more than 200 cities across the United States known as sanctuary cities that have local laws and regulations allowing them to defy federal immigration laws and orders. San Francisco is one such city, and it was there on July 1 that 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was allegedly shot and killed by Francisco Sanchez, who had been deported five times.
Sanchez was reportedly taking refuge in San Francisco at the time of the shooting.
According to the Washington Examiner, Pelosi said an immigration reform bill would be "the answer to many of the questions on this subject."
Several prominent lawmakers and public figures have
criticized sanctuary cities after Steinle's killing. Republicans and even some Democrats, including California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein,
have called for the end of the practice.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that
federal funding to the cities should be pulled, while real estate mogul Donald Trump — a Republican candidate for president —
called the killing a "senseless and totally preventable act of violence committed by an illegal immigrant."
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