A July protest against San Francisco’s sanctuary policy, led by the Minutemen. (AP Photo)

When Tony Bologna and his sons Michael and Matthew were murdered in June by an illegal Salvadoran immigrant, the victims’ family blamed San Francisco. The alleged killer, Edwin Ramos, had been arrested as a teenager, but officials did not report him to immigration authorities because of the city’s sanctuary policy. When Ramos was released from custody, he was allowed to remain in the country.

Now, the surviving members of the family has served San Francisco with a legal claim for damages, the first step in a wrongful death suit against the city. Kris Kobach, an attorney with the Immigration Reform Law Institute, is representing the family. He told the San Francisco Chronicle:

There are clearly many, many restrictions on when and whether police officers can communicate with the federal government on an individual’s immigration status—and those restrictions played a role, in a significant way, to horrible events that unfolded on June 22.

News 21 readers might remember Kobach from the Farmers Branch, Tex., and Hazleton, Pa., anti-illegal immigration ordinances. Kobach granted News 21 an interview in July.

Whether the ordinance or officials’ misinterpretation of it (PDF) led to Ramos remaining in the U.S. is murky. Mayor Gavin Newsom expressed sympathy for the family, but he defended the sanctuary policy in an op-ed. Hundreds of municipalities around the country have similar policies, and they will no doubt be watching this case closely.