García Zárate's immigration status made the shooting controversial and led to political criticism of San Francisco's status as a sanctuary city, as García Zárate is an undocumented immigrant residing in the United States who had previously been deported five times. Donald Trump, at the time a presidential candidate, cited García Zárate in support of his proposal to deport criminal illegal immigrants living in the United States, and mentioned Steinle during his acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention.