Deporting Fentanyl Dealers Violates Sanctuary City Policies, Says SF Supervisor

San Francisco County Supervisor Shamann Walton told San Franciscans this week the U.S. shouldn’t deport illegal immigrant drug dealers for selling fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid that was largely responsible for nearly 2,000 drug overdose deaths in the city since 2020.

“There’s been a drug issue in this country for a very long time. But there’s no way we’re going to stand by and allow people to say that one race or immigrants are responsible for these fentanyl deaths,” Walton stated at a rally The steps of City Hall are visible from the street on February 28th.

Walton defended city sanctuary policies that prevent city authorities from assisting U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This was in response a Supervisor Matt Dorsey’s proposal to add fentanyl offenses to a list of violent crime the city uses to help ICE. Dorsey’s proposal coincides with a District Attorney Brooke Jenkins’s recent push for a crackdown against fentanyl dealer.

“You cannot violate sanctuary policy for any reason. It goes against the morals of our fabric here in San Francisco, and it also allows people who don’t share our values to persecute people that need us the most,” Walton made these remarks at the rally. “People are going crazy over fentanyl because we’re starting to see more white people die from this drug. Where the hell were these people when my mothers and my grandmothers were on crack?”

J.J. Smith resides in the Tenderloin neighborhood of the city. It is a notorious spot for drug use and he lost his sister to a fentanyl overdose last October. According to Smith, Walton’s remarks were made as an insult to his brother. “a shock” “didn’t set well with a lot of people, even the black community.”

Smith stated that it is no secret that drug dealers connected to Honduras control large parts of the illicit fentanyl trading in the Tenderloin. This does not directly affect Walton’s district.

Honduran dealers “are the only people in San Francisco that have large quantities of fentanyl,” He said so. “We should care because it’s killing everybody, not only white people. And, even if it does kill only white people, who is to say that’s fair?”

Smith challenged the logic of fentanyl dealers receiving lesser sentences. This was when crack dealers, including African Americans in the 1980s/90s, were sentenced to long prison terms for their crimes.

“But now Walton is speaking about a deadly drug that’s killing more people than any drug that’s ever been on the market,” He stated.

Jacqui Berlinn was co-founder of Mothers Against Drug Addiction and Deaths and told The Epoch Times that she was offended at Walton’s remarks.

Berlinn claimed that she was a child during crack cocaine’s 1980s epidemic, but that she is fighting for her son Corey who is dependent on fentanyl and is now in recovery. “for all citizens of all races” The following are affected “poison flooding our cities.”

“We have members fighting with us who are black,” In a text message, she informed The Epoch Times. “Fentanyl is killing U.S. citizens of all races—disproportionately persons of color. It’s also poisoning U.S. children that had no idea what they were getting. There has never been a drug market so deadly as the one we are experiencing now.”

San Francisco was one of the 12 first cities in America to declare itself a sanctuary town. This allows local police to stop or arrest people based upon their immigration status.

Walton spoke at a noon rally to support Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s resolution denouncing criticism of sanctuary-city policies at City Hall, ahead of the February 28 Board of Supervisors meeting. The rally was also attended by Supervisors Myrna and Dean Melgar.

After almost two hours of public comments the board voted unanimously that it would continue to debate the issue at its next meeting, March 7.

Mano Raju, San Francisco’s Public Defender, said that police in San Francisco unfairly target black and white dealers. “war on drugs” was targeted at black and brown people to be arrested and incarcerated, while white dealers are seldom arrested.

“We also know that Latin X community members who are targeted are young and often survivors of labor, trafficking, and exploitation. Using our local resources to funnel these individuals to ICE detention facilities will subject them to horrific conditions that can lead to a death sentence for deportation,” He stated. “And, all this cruelty is going to do nothing to stem the overdoses.”

Dorsey didn’t respond to our requests for comment.