Gavin Newsom Does Something Right

Boy, I never thought I'd write that but I gotta give the Gay Bay mayor credit when it's earned:

The mayor of San Francisco is waging war against his own city hall over its decision to protect juvenile illegal immigrants from being deported -- even when they stand accused of felonies.

Overturning the city's current policy, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted last week to stop handing illegal minors over to the feds unless they've been convicted of a serious crime. Their vote upends a year-old policy that sent more than 100 suspects into federal custody for deportation.

The measure's sponsor, once an illegal immigrant himself, says innocent youths were being deported and their families were being torn apart by the city's law.

Let's stop right there. These families were not being torn apart by the city's law. They were being torn apart because of two things:

1. They were in the country illegally
2. The kids decided to commit violent crimes.

Back to the article:

But Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is running for governor of California, says the board has perverted the city's "sanctuary" policy, which was supposed to make the city safer by allowing illegal immigrants to report crimes without fear of being deported.

He says the new law now makes it easier for illegal immigrants to commit crimes.

"The sanctuary city was never designed to be in any way, shape or form a framework where people can commit crimes and be shielded against those crimes," said Newsom. "I mean that's perverse, it's absurd."

The Board voted 8-2 for the change, an essentially veto-proof majority that leaves Newsom's hands tied. But the mayor isn't buying in.

Newsom says the change violates federal law, and has directed police and probation officers to ignore the rule, which the city's law enforcement officials say they're prepared to do.

Did you catch the key part of that second excerpt? It's the "who is running for governor of California" part. The pre-candidate Newsom would have had no problem with this change in the city's regulations, but candidate Newsom realizes that catering to illegals is a no-go in most of the state.

Still, he's doing the right thing, and for him, that's a major accomplishment.