USA TODAY International Edition
Murder trial opens for man who stoked migrant debate
Case fueled calls for Trump’s border wall and fears over ‘sanctuary cities’
A murder trial opened Monday in San Francisco against an undocumented Mexican immigrant charged with killing a woman in a case that highlighted a disconnect in immigration enforcement measures and fueled calls for President Trump’s border wall.
Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, 54, is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Kate Steinle, 32. She was shot in the back on July 1, 2015, as she posed for pictures with her father on a San Francisco pier.
During previous court appearances, Zarate replied “not guilty” repeatedly in English and Spanish. His lawyer, Matt Gonzalez, said Monday outside court that the defendant wasn’t criminally responsible because he found the .40-caliber Sig Sauer and wasn’t aware it was a gun when it accidentally went off. But prosecutors have portrayed Zarate, who faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison, as a danger.
Zarate became a lightning rod for complaints about illegal immigration even before the trial began. He had been deported five times before the shooting, most recently in 2009. His criminal history dated to 1991, with seven non-violent felony convictions.
Before the election, Trump tweeted that the case illustrated the need for a border wall.
Another aspect of the case deals with so-called sanctuary cities.
San Francisco became a sanctuary city in 1989. A local ordinance prohibits employees from helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement with immigration investigations or arrests “unless such help is required by federal or state law or a warrant.”