Waving placards and chanting, "No one is illegal", over three hundred pro-immigrant demonstrators called for the reaffirmation of San Francisco's sanctuary program on the steps of City Hall on July 30th. They countered about a dozen anti-immigrant members of the Minutemen Project. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom appeared in front of City Hall shortly after a loud rally and defended the city's status as a sanctuary offering protection for undocumented immigrants. He said the goal of San Francisco's sanctuary ordinance is to promote public safety.

Immigrant Rights groups organized for years to get the sanctuary legislation passed in 1989. San Francisco's sanctuary policy was adopted to allow undocumented residents full access to city services without question about their legal status. It is beneficial to the whole community in many ways, one example being that it encourages crime victims and witnesses to participate in the legal system without fear of immigration authorities. It also assures that children will be educated rather than left without schooling, and that public health measures such as vaccines are available to the community in its entirety for the common good.

During the morning rally Renee Saucedo, an attorney with La Raza Centro, spoke for many saying the city should affirm the sanctuary law and "call out these hatemongers," referring to the Minutemen Project, a small group that came to attack Newsom in particular and liberal leaning San Francisco in general. La Raza Centro was one of many groups that called for the protest to counter the Minutemen's racist stance.

Read More | Photos | Two Arrested At Minute "Men" Counter-Protest | Raging Grannies Announce Support for 7/30 Pro-Immigrant Demo in SF | Emergency Protest Against the Minutemen in SF | Resolution reaffirming San Francisco's status as a City and County of Refuge | Slideshow from Alianza News