Say hello to Sheila Chung Hagen. Or rather, hello again.
During her tenure at City Hall, Chung Hagen worked as a legislative aide to two progressive supervisors: David Campos (nearly six years) and Hillary Ronen (roughly four to five months). While she was with Campos, she was instrumental in writing the 2009 amendment to San Francisco’s 1989 Sanctuary City Ordinance. The amendment prohibited city authorities from reporting undocumented minors to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for possible deportation upon initial arrest.
Prior to the legislation, juvenile probation officers and law enforcement were required to notify ICE about undocumented juveniles at the time of booking or arrest if they were suspected of being in the U.S. illegally and charged with a felony.
That action stopped after the majority of the board approved the stricter legislation. City officials were then prevented from reporting criminal offenders under the age of 18 to ICE until (and unless) they were convicted of a felony in adult court. Thus, it created a legal haven for youths and teens who commit even serious crimes.
Seventeen years later, the city’s tightened sanctuary policy is in full effect, but the impact started in the mid-2010s. That’s when drug traffickers began to import illicit fentanyl into San Francisco, largely replacing the far less potent heroin supply. Deaths quickly spiked in the city. In 2015, 120 people from overdoses; by 2023, that number swelled to 805.
As the drug’s potency intensified, so did profits, which attracted more organized crime activity into the city.
The majority of people selling illegal drugs in San Francisco are Honduran nationals who enter the country unlawfully. Both adults and minors know little will happen to them if they are arrested.
San Francisco has become attractive to street-level fentanyl dealers because it is such a low-risk environment. They almost certainly won’t face deportation. And despite recent aggressive law enforcement crackdowns, keeping accused dealers in jail has proven difficult for local prosecutors. Even repeat offenders often face minimal consequences. Instead, they’re released back to the streets where they typically reoffend.
Back in 2009, the writing was on the wall. The Campos-Chung Hagen legislation was considered so extreme that then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, who otherwise supported the general concept of a sanctuary city, objected.
About 14 months before the amendment was introduced, an immigrant from El Salvador who had entered the U.S. illegally committed a triple murder in San Francisco’s Excelsior District. On June 22, 2008, Edwin Ramos, a member of the MS-13 gang, shot and killed Tony Bologna and his two sons, Michael and Matthew, as the family sat in their car.
The public was outraged and the Bologna family blamed the city’s policy. In response, Newsom swiftly amended the sanctuary policy to allow referrals of juvenile felons to federal authorities.
Newsom declared that the sanctuary city policy “was never designed to protect people who commit crimes.” For the amendment that would roll back his decision, he issued a formal veto.
However, the more progressive faction on the 11-member Board of Supervisors — David Campos, David Chiu, John Avalos, Chris Daly, Eric Mar, Ross Mirkarimi, Sophie Maxwell, and Bevan Dufty voted to over ride Newsom. Only Michela Alioto-Pier, Carmen Chu, and Sean Elsbernd voted against the tightened ordinance.
As a result, San Francisco has one of the strictest sanctuary city policies in the country.
Today, undocumented dealers, from young teenagers to older adults, dominate the public drug markets unabated. Although police officers can (and do) make arrests, consequences remain minimal. Communities such as the Tenderloin, South of Market, and the Mission have been throttled with persistent crime and violence. “Hondos,” as the dealers are called on the street, rule the roost.
On May 18, 2026, Jackie Fielder, the District 9 Supervisor and Democratic Socialist appointed Chung Hagen as her new legislative aide, bringing her back to City Hall. Fielder is currently on medical leave until the end of June, after voluntarily checking herself into a hospital for mental health treatment.
Now Chung Hagen will manage the supervisor’s office and help shape its legislative priorities.
