Our justice system is facing unprecedented times of polarity. San Francisco watched as ICE protests in Los Angeles erupted into violence and Waymo burnings. Subsequently, our city faced its own violent anti-ICE protest, which resulted in SFPD rounding up 148 agitators, half of whom were out-of-towners.
Our city’s bohemian legacy is now facing the unintended consequences of Proposition 47 and a judicial merry-go-round that spins serial fentanyl dealers back on our streets. The Proposition 47 fallout decriminalized fentanyl, fueling addictions, homelessness, and a retail exodus that has gutted our commercial heart. Yet, San Francisco’s county judges are not alone in their leniency. Consider Honduran fentanyl dealer Jose Flores, who was fast-tracked and deported under U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson, a former criminal defense attorney, to “reunite with his youngest daughter.” Federal Judge Thompson bypassed Flores’s handover to ICE, which inevitably boomeranged his nonchalant return to San Francisco to peddle more fentanyl.
And as regional and federal forces lock horns on public safety and deportations, what narrative truly reflects San Francisco? When it comes to the fentanyl crisis, San Francisco voters are more pragmatically aligned.
A March 2025 citywide survey, reveals a striking consensus: two-thirds (61 percent) of voters unequivocally urge federal intervention to deport illegal fentanyl traffickers who exploit our legal leniency to peddle death.
Toss in those who “somewhat agree,” this sentiment surges to an overwhelming 83 percent. Even in a city renowned for its bleeding heart, there is a breaking point, a collective exasperation with those who weaponize our compassion to fuel a crisis that claims lives young and old, drawn to our streets by cheap drugs and lax enforcement. But if deportations are not working, San Franciscans are urging effective collaboration among city, county, and federal authorities to curb the fentanyl crisis. This is not a partisan plea but a resolute demand to transcend political divides and wrest control from the fentanyl epidemic ravaging our city’s soul. The path forward is clear — unity, not discord, will reclaim San Francisco’s promise.