Jury selection began yesterday in the triple murder trial of an illegal immigrant who opened fire killing a family of three in San Francisco in 2008. The case ignited a firestorm of controversy around the sanctuary city’s policy of harboring illegal immigrants rather than reporting them to federal authorities.

El Salvador native Edwin Ramos, 25, is accused of opening fire on a car containing 48-year-old Tony Bologna and his two sons as the family was stopped at an intersection. Prosecutors allege that Ramos, a member of the MS-13 gang who illegally entered the country as a young child, misidentified one of Bologna’s sons as a member of a rival gang. Ramos’ attorney alleges that his passenger and fellow gang member, Wilfredo “Flaco” Reyes, unexpectedly opened fire.

Just months prior to the shooting, Ramos was pulled over during a routine traffic stop. He was also pegged for assaulting a man on a Muni bus in 2003 and attempting to rob a pregnant woman the following year. San Francisco authorities never turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement due a 1989 decision by the Board of Supervisors declaring San Francisco a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants.