Four U.S. senators introduced a bill on Thursday that would close a loophole in federal immigration law that is being blamed for the release of a fugitive illegal alien who killed a 21-year-old woman while driving drunk in Omaha earlier this year.
“Sarah’s Law” is named for Sarah Root, a 21-year-old Iowa native who was killed after being rear-ended by 19-year-old Edwin Mejia in Omaha on Jan. 31.
The Honduran national, who was drag racing with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, was arrested after the crash and charged with vehicular homicide. (RELATED: Feds Refused To Detain Killer Illegal Alien So Now They’ve Put Him On A ‘Most Wanted’ List)
But he is currently on the lam because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) declined a request from the Omaha police department to detain the illegal alien after he bonded out of jail on Feb. 5. The federal agency claimed that Mejia was not an immigration enforcement priority.
“Sarah’s Law,” which was introduced by Nebraska Sens. Ben Sasse and Debra Fischer and Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, seeks to change immigration enforcement law by requiring ICE to take custody of illegal aliens who are charged with a crime resulting in the death or serious bodily injury of another person.
“The legislation also requires ICE to make reasonable efforts to identify and provide relevant information to the crime victims or their families,” the proposed bill reads.
Under current immigration law, motor vehicle homicide is not considered a crime of violence. That means that illegal aliens charged with or convicted of the crime are not subject to mandatory detainers.
“Even if he were convicted of the offense, motor vehicle homicide — driving under the influence, the conviction would not constitute a crime of violence under the immigration laws, and consequently, would not constitute an aggravated felony,” ICE director Sarah Saldana wrote to Sasse on March 31.
“The conviction would not render him subject to mandatory detention, nor would it significantly impact his eligibility to apply for relief or protection from removal,” she added.
ICE has given several conflicting explanations for why it failed to detain Mejia, who entered the country illegally in 2013 and was designated as an unaccompanied alien minor.
That status allowed him to remain in the U.S. while awaiting an immigration court hearing.
After Mejia’s release from Omaha’s jail, an ICE spokesman said that Mejia did not meet the threshold required for an immigration detainer under the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement priorities.
Saldana has offered other defenses for ICE’s failure to act. She falsely claimed during a Senate hearing in March that Root was still alive when Mejia was released from jail. In fact, she had been dead for several days.
She also claimed that ICE was only given a “matter of hours” to respond to the Omaha police department’s request that Mejia be detained after being released from jail. But police investigators called ICE several times starting 12 hours before Mejia was released. Their request was directly denied by ICE.
Though Saldana has claimed that Mejia is not subject to ICE’s mandatory enforcement measures, the agency placed the illegal alien on its “Most Wanted” list on March 30.
“Sarah’s Law” is the second major bill aimed at filling in gaps in federal immigration law. Last year, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz introduced “Kate’s Law,” which was a response to the July 1, 2015 murder of Kate Steinle in San Francisco.
The 32-year-old was fatally shot by a Mexican illegal alien who had been deported multiple times. He had been released from jail in San Francisco because of the city’s sanctuary policies which prohibit city agencies from cooperating with federal immigration agencies.
“Kate’s Law” would create a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for illegal aliens who re-enter the U.S.
In a statement on “Sarah’s Law,” Nebraska’s Ben Sasse criticized the Obama administration for stonewalling his questions about the case. He also said that Mejia should be in jail, not on a “Most Wanted” list.
“While the Administration still refuses to answer basic questions about why ICE let Ms. Root’s killer go free, Congress can make it absolutely clear that federal law requires ICE to immediately detain any illegal alien who kills or seriously injures someone. As I’ve said before: Mr. Mejia shouldn’t be on ICE’s Most Wanted List, he should be behind bars,” he said in a statement.