Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticized San Francisco's sanctuary city protections after a jury acquitted an illegal immigrant charged with the 2015 murder of Kate Steinle.
"When jurisdictions choose to return criminal aliens to the streets rather than turning them over to federal immigration authorities, they put the public's safety at risk," Sessions said in a statement.
"While the State of California sought a murder charge for the man who caused Ms. Steinle's death — a man who would not have been on the streets of San Francisco if the city simply honored an ICE detainer — the people ultimately convicted him of felon in possession of a firearm," he said.
Sessions urged lawmakers and cities to "consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to cooperate with federal law enforcement officers."
Sessions has been among several Trump administration officials to reference the Steinle case in criticizing sanctuary cities for refusing to help federal officials enforce immigration law.
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