SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco's district attorney is defending a city-led job program for first-time drug offenders that has included at least six illegal immigrants.
The program came under fire after the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this week that immigrants who didn't have authorization were included.
District Attorney Kamala Harris says prosecutors tightened the standards of the program after learning one of the approximately seven illegal immigrants who participated had assaulted and robbed a woman.
Harris acknowledged Wednesday that letting illegal immigrants participate was a "flaw in the design" of the program, and says the issue was corrected when she learned about it, about one year ago.
She said the other undocumented immigrants in the program followed the rules and deserved to graduate, which includes having drug conviction records cleared.
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