[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 140 (Thursday, August 6, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5234-S5235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 285

  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, if you are a person just watching politics 
back home, you probably see a common theme: talking. No matter the 
topic, people in DC like to talk but not much gets done.
  There is one topic that is especially guilty of this, and that is 
immigration. Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, we know 
our immigration system is broken. That is an easy statement to make, 
but nothing ever changes, and we need to start getting things done.
  In Iowa, we learned this in a very tragic way. On January 31, 2016, 
the same day as her college graduation, Sarah Root was killed by an 
illegal immigrant named Eswin Mejia. He was drag racing with a blood 
alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.
  Despite repeated requests by local law enforcement, Immigrations and 
Customs Enforcement failed to detain Mejia because of a nonsensical 
policy that allows ICE to use discretion when determining whether to 
detain a criminal alien charged with a violent offense. He posted bond; 
he was released; and he disappeared. Still, more than 4 years later, he 
remains a fugitive, denying Sarah's loved ones any sense of justice for 
closure.
  As a mother, I cannot fathom the grief her family and friends 
continue to feel after such a devastating loss. Sarah had her whole 
future ahead of her, but her opportunity to make her mark on the world 
was tragically cut short. Yet even in death, she touched the lives of 
others, saving six different individuals through organ donation.
  Sadly, what happened to Sarah is not an isolated incident. We have 
seen this story play out time and again in the more than 4 years since 
Sarah's killing--innocent lives taken by criminals who enter the United 
States illegally through a porous border, but nothing ever changes.
  Although nothing can bring Sarah back to her family, we can ensure 
that ICE never makes the same mistake again.
  Today, I rise to call upon my Senate colleagues to end this senseless 
madness, to do something and stop another tragedy like this from 
happening with a simple and clean fix. I am asking the Senate to join 
26 of their colleagues and pass my bill, S. 285, Sarah's Law.
  Sarah's Law is simple. It requires that ICE take custody of a person 
who is in the country illegally if they are charged with a crime that 
seriously injures another person It also mandates a better victim 
notification system that lets victims and their families know what 
happened to their loved ones.

  Sarah's Law is about as commonsense a reform as there is. It 
recognizes the simple fact that all criminals should be held 
accountable for their actions and not simply be allowed to slip back 
into the shadows. If Sarah's Law is passed, people who are in this 
country illegally who murder another person would be prioritized for 
deportation if released. Who could be opposed to this?
  Here is a bit of good news. President Trump implemented parts of 
Sarah's Law through an Executive order in 2017, including directing the 
Secretary of Homeland Security to prioritize the removal of violent 
criminals. Despite provisions of Sarah's Law being put into place by 
President Trump's order, it is critical that the Senate codify these 
enforcement priorities so they cannot be removed by future 
administrations.
  This may seem crazy to those watching at home, but criminal aliens 
charged with homicide were allowed to escape detention in previous 
administrations. No family should ever have to endure such a tragedy, 
especially one that could have been prevented.
  I recognize that the immigration debate has become a political 
football, but justice for victims and their families is not a game. 
This bill isn't about the southern border or the wall or visa numbers 
or the larger immigration debate at all. This bill is about changing 
the system for the better and ensuring that families have the promise 
of justice. I intend to fulfill that promise to Sarah's loving parents, 
Michelle Root and Scott Root--the promise that I will do everything I 
can to ensure that not one more parent has to go through what the Roots 
have faced--the loss of both their daughter and the promise of justice.
  I yield the floor to my colleague from Iowa, Senator Grassley.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am here to join my colleague from 
Iowa, Senator Ernst, in this effort.
  We ought to get this unanimous consent request accomplished, and we 
ought to get this bill passed because it is unjustified that we don't 
get the cooperation that it takes to keep a person who has committed a 
felony from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States.
  I joined Senator Ernst in reintroducing Sarah's Law on January 31 of 
last year, and that was the third anniversary of Sarah Root's death. 
Sarah was from Council Bluffs, IA, and as my

[[Page S5235]]

colleague said, Sarah was tragically killed in Omaha, NE, on the very 
night of her graduation. An illegal alien struck and killed her while 
he was driving drunk. He was three times over the legal limit of the 
amount of alcohol you can have in your blood to be a safe driver.
  It is a travesty that the previous administration refused to take 
Sarah's killer into custody. He was not considered a priority. Can you 
imagine that? Her killer then disappeared. Obviously, being a smart 
person who is in violation of the law, he is not going to be seen. So 
he remains at large. I have said before that Sarah's senseless death is 
a tragic reminder of the serious improvements that we need in border 
security and in interior immigration enforcement in our United States 
of America.
  It is outrageous that many innocent Americans have been seriously 
injured and, in some cases, killed as a result of the actions of 
criminal illegal aliens.
  It is even more outrageous that criminal illegal aliens, like the one 
who killed Sarah Root, are not subject to mandatory immigration 
detention. Sarah's Law would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act 
to require the mandatory detention of an illegal alien who is charged 
with a crime resulting in the death or serious bodily injury of another 
person.
  This bill is common sense. A lot of times, common sense doesn't 
prevail in Washington, DC, and the long time to get this very important 
legislation passed is evidence of the lack of common sense. This bill 
is long overdue.
  I am proud to be a cosponsor of the bill and to support Senator 
Ernst's unanimous consent request. I gladly thank her for her 
leadership in this area.
  I yield the floor
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask 
unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged 
from further consideration of S. 285 and that the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration; further, that the bill be considered read a 
third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered 
made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from New Mexico.
  Mr. UDALL. Mr. President, reserving my right to object, this family 
has suffered a terrible loss and has my sincerest condolences.
  Too many families in my home State of New Mexico have lost loved ones 
to DUIs, and I have made reducing DUIs one of my top priorities. As 
State attorney general, I worked to increase penalties and get them off 
the roads.
  In the Senate, I am working on a bipartisan basis to use technology 
to get us to the place at which we can eliminate drunk driving and save 
thousands of lives per year. The Presiding Officer also knows that we 
are working very well, in a bipartisan way, to tackle this issue.
  I have concerns that this bill uses a tragedy to paint immigrants as 
more dangerous than other people, which is false by all available data. 
The immigration detention system is also in need of comprehensive 
reform, and this bill does nothing to improve our immigration system. 
Instead, the bill imposes judicially unreviewable detention on 
immigrants simply charged with certain crimes, not convicted. This is 
not consistent with due process.
  Importantly, this bill has not been subject to committee review. My 
understanding is that senior members of the Committee on the Judiciary 
have strong concerns about this bill.
  I also believe that we should not be legislating on immigration 
matters unless and until this body takes action to permanently protect 
Dreamers and provide them with a path toward citizenship.
  I object.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, once again, we are not talking about an 
overall immigration debate. We are talking about justice for those 
families who have received none, just as Scott Root and Michelle Root 
have seen the death of their daughter at the hands of an illegal 
immigrant and have yet to see justice because that illegal immigrant 
was allowed to evade justice. So the bill is not about immigration. It 
is about justice.
  I would further argue that, because this was an illegal immigrant and 
there was no detainer necessary by ICE, the illegal immigrant, who had 
no strong ties to the community and had operated under a number of 
assumed names, was able to slip away into the shadows. Most legal 
immigrants and citizens of the United States have roots somewhere and 
family somewhere, and they can be tracked and monitored until they are 
brought to justice. That is not true in this population. Because of 
that, Sarah Root will never have justice. Her killer will continue to 
evade authorities because he was, simply, not detained by ICE.
  We have the opportunity to correct this, and it is very unfortunate 
that, today, in the U.S. Senate, we have decided that Michelle Root and 
Scott Root should not see justice for Sarah, their daughter, and that 
other families who lose children to illegal immigrants should not have 
the opportunity for justice.
  Certain criminal elements, whether legal or illegal, can slip away, 
and that is exactly what Eswin Mejia did. He had no ties and was able 
to slip into the shadows but left a family wondering: How many others 
will be subjected to the pain and agony that they have gone through 
since the loss of Sarah? How many other families will go through that?
  I yield the floor.