[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3097-3098]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I want to pay tribute to Sarah Root, a 
young woman from Iowa who had a very bright future but was taken from 
this Earth too soon.
  Sarah was 21 years old and just graduated from Bellevue University 
with perfect grades. In the words of her family, ``She was full of life 
and ready to take on the world.''
  According to a close friend of hers, Sarah was smart, outgoing, and 
dedicated to her friends and family. She embodied the words that were 
tattooed on her body: ``Live, laugh and love.''
  The day Sarah graduated, she was struck by a drunk driver. That 
driver was in the country illegally. The alleged drunk driver was Edwin 
Mejia, and he had a blood alcohol content of .241, three times the 
legal limit. The driver was charged with felony motor vehicle homicide 
and operating a vehicle while intoxicated on February 3. Bail was set 
at $50,000, but he was only required to put up 10 percent. So for a 
mere $5,000, the drunk driver walked out of jail and into the shadows. 
As Sarah's father said, after laying his daughter to rest, ``The cost 
of a bond cost less than the funeral.''
  Those are painful words to hear, but what is more frustrating is that 
the driver should have never been released. When local law enforcement 
apparently asked the Federal Government--specifically U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement--to take custody of the person, the Federal 
Government declined. ICE refused to place a detainer on the driver. An 
ICE spokesman stated that the agency did not lodge a detainer on the 
man because his arrest for felony motor vehicle homicide ``did not meet 
ICE's enforcement priorities.''
  Now the Root family must face the consequences of the Federal 
Government's inaction while grappling with their daughter's death. It 
is difficult for the family to have closure since the man is nowhere to 
be found. It is unknown if he is still in the United States or if he 
has fled to his home country of Honduras, but this is not an isolated 
incident. It is business as usual in the Obama administration. Because 
of the administration's policies and carelessness, Sarah Root became 
another victim. Once again, this case shows that there is a colossal 
and systematic breakdown of immigration enforcement thanks to the Obama 
administration's flawed policies and lack of commitment to the rule of 
law.
  Unfortunately, a talented young lady whose life was cut short, who 
didn't have an opportunity to take on the world, is a story all too 
common. Under President Obama's Priority Enforcement Program, a person 
in the country illegally will only be detained or removed in a few 
limited circumstances. Some say that nearly 90,000 undocumented 
immigrants were released in 2015 thanks to this policy.
  Secretary Jeh Johnson has claimed that only those who have laid down 
roots and do not have serious crimes would not be subject to removal. 
Yet their words don't match up with their actions. Local law 
enforcement, such as those in Omaha, NE, have asked the Federal 
Government to take custody of certain individuals, but the agency in 
charge refuses. It hides behind their so-called priorities.
  The President has a constitutional duty to ``take care that the laws 
be faithfully executed.'' The Constitution does not say the President 
shall make a list of which criminals would be punished or removed and 
which criminals may go about their lives. The Obama administration may 
not agree with the laws that Congress passes, but that has no bearing 
on its responsibility to make sure the laws are faithfully carried out.
  The administration claims it is well within its constitutional duties 
under the doctrine of prosecutorial discretion. However, this 
administration's approach of announcing its priorities and only 
enforcing the laws on individuals who fall under its priorities is both 
unusual and obviously an abuse of prosecutorial discretion.
  This is unusual to prosecutorial discretion because prosecutors do 
not usually announce their priorities or when they will exercise 
prosecutorial discretion. A liberal law professor and immigration 
attorney, Peter Margulies, explained that prosecutors strive ``to keep 
prospective lawbreakers in the dark.'' He explains that if prosecutors' 
discretion priorities are not kept secret, they ``would effectively 
license the wrongdoing.''
  He then went on to give an example in the case of a burglary. He 
said:

       When an admitted burglar is youthful and the burglar's 
     ``take'' is relatively modest, judges may not wish to 
     sentence an offender to prison, and may look with favor on a 
     plea bargain that reflects this sentiment. However, it would 
     be difficult to imagine prosecutors soliciting applications 
     from known burglars for a ``burglar's holiday'' that would 
     guarantee a specific period of immunity.

  In other words, it is as ridiculous to let people contemplating 
illegally migrating to the United States know they will get a pass 
under certain conditions as it would be to let people contemplating 
burglary know they would be let off the hook if they met certain 
qualifiers.
  Consider the drunk driver who killed Sarah Root. What message does 
this send to people who make a conscious decision to get behind the 
wheel after drinking? What this case says is that drunk driving--unless 
convicted--is not a serious enough offense to force removal 
proceedings. This is moral hazard. Hence, this administration's 
Priority Enforcement Program is creating a moral hazard and given 
license to illegal activities.
  Sarah Root is one of many victims in the past few weeks who died at 
the hands of undocumented immigrants. In Louisville, KY, Chelsea Hogue 
was put into a coma when Jose Aguilar, an undocumented person, hit her 
while driving under the influence of alcohol. ICE issued a detainer and 
did not take custody of Aguilar but released him a day later, again 
because he had ``no prior significant misdemeanor or felony 
conviction.''
  Then there is Esmid Pedraza, who had been transferred to ICE in 
August of 2013 after serving time for driving under the influence. 
However, he was let go on bond because of limited detention space. This 
is what ICE said at that particular time:

       Due to limited availability of detention space, ICE 
     prioritizes the use of its immigration detention beds for 
     convicted felons, known gang members, and other individuals 
     whose conviction records indicate they pose a likely threat 
     to public safety.

  This is ironic, given that the administration has failed to live up 
to the mandated detention bed limit that Congress sets every year.
  Just a little over 2 years after his drunk driving offense, Pedraza 
was charged with the murder of his girlfriend Stacey Aguilar. Then on 
March 8, an individual illegally present in the United States allegedly 
murdered five people in Kansas and Missouri. The suspect entered the 
country in 1993, committed a series of crimes, and was removed from the 
United States in 2004. He attempted to illegally enter again the same 
month but was given ``voluntary return.'' However, he returned at some 
point and continued his criminal ways. The suspect had been arrested 
and charged with numerous crimes, including communicating a threat with 
intent to terrorize; battery of a spouse; several driving without a 
license offenses; a subsequent felony conviction for communicating a 
threat with intent to terrorize, reportedly based on his threat to kill 
his wife with a rifle, for which he was sentenced to incarceration for 
2 years; two arrests for driving under the influence, which produced 
one conviction; and a conviction for domestic battery.
  On at least two occasions, ICE was notified of the suspect but, for 
various reasons, did not take custody of that person. That was a major 
failure between the Feds and local law enforcement.
  People are illegally entering the country, being removed, entering 
again, and committing more crimes. Illegal reentries are happening 
because

[[Page 3098]]

there are no consequences. That is what happened in Kate Steinle's 
death, and that is why we need to move to what is called Kate's Law. 
That bill would deter people from illegally reentering by enhancing 
penalties and establishing new mandatory minimum sentences for certain 
individuals with previous felony convictions.
  The Obama administration cannot continue to turn a blind eye to 
sanctuary communities and ignore those who have broken our laws by 
illegally crossing the border time and again.
  How many more people have to die? How many more women--like Kate 
Steinle, Sarah Root, Chelsea Hogue, and Stacey Aguilar--are going to be 
taken from their families and friends? The parents of these young women 
are grieving today, yet their stories fall on deaf ears at 1600 
Pennsylvania Avenue.
  Things have to change. The President must rethink his policies and 
must find a way to ensure that criminal immigrants are taken off the 
streets. The Obama administration should try enforcing the law, instead 
of its priorities, for the sake of the American people.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lankford). The Senator from New Jersey.
  (The remarks of Mr. Menendez pertaining to the introduction of S. 
2675 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. MENENDEZ. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, my colleague has brought to our attention 
a very crucial issue. We need to be there for each other. That is what 
makes America great--when we are there for each other.
  (The remarks of Mrs. Boxer pertaining to the introduction of S. 2674 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mrs. BOXER. I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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