Immigration

Honduran Drug Dealers Love San Francisco’s Immigration Laws

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Honduran drug dealers have flocked to San Francisco because of the city’s lax immigration laws, several of them told the San Francisco Chronicle.

San Francisco’s sanctuary city status, which shields illegal immigrants from deportation in some cases, has brought Honduran drug dealers to the area, according to two Honduran drug dealers who spoke with the Chronicle. San Francisco has seen a more than 40% increase in overdose deaths between January and March, with most occurring in the Tenderloin district and South of Market neighborhoods of the city, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in April.

“The reason is because, in San Francisco, it’s like you’re here in Honduras,” one Honduran drug dealer told the Chronicle. “The law, because they don’t deport, that’s the problem. … Many look for San Francisco because it’s a sanctuary city. You go to jail and you come out.”

Another dealer from Honduras in San Francisco told the Chronicle that the city shields them from deportation.

Numerous dealers who spoke with the Chronicle had returned to the Tenderloin after previous deportations, according to the Chronicle.

In an effort to crack down on the dealers, Newsom has deployed state police and National Guard soldiers to the area.

There were 1,273 arrests for narcotics dealing in 2015, which fell to 734 in 2021 and increased to 929 in 2022, according to records obtained by the Chronicle. Between January and May, there were 426 arrests.

Almost all of those accused of drug dealing are released before their trials, according to the Chronicle. Many of them also later plead guilty to lesser crimes, undergo a diversion program or have their charges dismissed.

Between 2018 and 2022, just 6% of individuals charged with drug-related crimes in San Francisco have actually been convicted, with sentences averaging 168 days, according to the Chronicle.

For illegal immigrants, the penalties for drug sales likely mean deportation if they are facing the charges in federal court. However, not many of the drug dealing cases in San Francisco are handled by federal courts, according to the Chronicle.

Former District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was removed in a recall election in 2022, obtained only three drug-dealing convictions in all of 2021 and defended shielding illegal immigrants facing such charges from deportation.