>>>>>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,387722,00.html
>>>>>
>>>>>At least in San Francisco criminals are safe.
>>>>
>>>>The Chronicle reported that Ramos was convicted of two gang-related felonies while a juvenile and remained in San Francisco because the Juvenile Probation Department did not alert federal authorities. San Francisco's 1989 "City of Refuge" ordinance prohibits city agencies from contacting the feds on immigration matters.
>>>>
>>>>Maybe I missed something, but how are two gang related felonies an immigration matter:
>>>
>>>Somehow that works in San Francisco.
>>
>>Maybe the felonies involved the kidnaping of people from other countries and forcing them to immigrate illegally into the U.S. That would work then.
>
>He was Edwin Ramos, 21, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador... (according to the story) It was his status here (illegally) and the protection in place for illegal immigrants that prevented them contacting federal agencies. It seems they could have contacted federal agencies on the crimes alone - regardless of his status.

That's kind of what I figured. I think they were hiding behind the statute, but I can't think of a good reason why.