'Loophole' blamed for job-program mess

Kamala Harris

Allowing illegal immigrants to expunge their felony records through a re-entry program that puts first-time drug offenders through job training was a “loophole in the design,” District Attorney Kamala Harris said Tuesday.

The mistake was made public recently after it was revealed that a pet project Harris started four years ago, Back on Track, allowed at least six illegal immigrants that committed crimes to join the program despite the fact that they could not legally work in the country.

Back on Track allows small-time drug dealers between 18 and 30 years old with no record of violence to join the program, which is run by Goodwill Industries. Enrollees must plead guilty, but their records are expunged after a year of training.

In her first round of interviews since the news broke late Sunday night, Harris said that the program was never created to admit undocumented immigrants.

Harris, who is running for state attorney general — California’s top law-enforcement position — is walking a fine line between adhering to The City’s liberal sanctuary policy and the state’s laws governing the acrimonious issue of illegal immigration.

San Francisco’s City Charter prohibits city officials from assisting federal immigration authorities, except in cases where someone is suspected of a felony.

In mid-2008, Harris quietly changed Back on Track to require applicants to provide work documentation. One of the few to be told was Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez, CEO of Goodwill Industries.

“The issue for us is that we don’t control who goes into the program,” Alvarez-Rodriguez said. “Clearly we want assurances from the D.A.’s Office that those controls are in place.”
Asked whether she would go back and check names of past participants with federal immigration authorities, Harris said, “It’s not our job.”