Dem Senator Stops Bill That Would See Illegals With Criminal Past Detained

(LibertySociety.com) – Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., squashed an effort by Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst to advance Sarah’s Law by unanimous consent, which would have brought it to the floor for a full vote of the Senate.

Sarah’s Law was named after a 21-year-old Iowan woman named Sarah Root. In 2016, just hours after graduating from Bellevue University in Nebraska, she was killed by an illegal migrant who was driving while intoxicated. The suspect was identified as Edwin Mejia, but he was allowed to post bond and remains at large to this day.

The bill would require Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal migrants who were charged with violent crimes. Speaking from the Senate floor, Ernst said that ICE declined to detain Mejia even though he was a repeat offender and frequently failed to show up for court. She blamed ICE’s decision on a 2014 memo from the Obama administration regarding “immigration enforcement priorities.” Ernst also told the story of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley’s recent murder by an illegal migrant, although he had not been arrested for any violent crime before killing her. However, she would not have been killed had he been detained upon entry into the United States.

Senator Durbin claimed that the bill would force ICE to detain human trafficking and domestic abuse victims who had also been charged with crimes. He argued that it would “deprive immigrants of the due process that everyone is afforded.” Immigration and the crisis at the southern border have been at the forefront of many discussions in recent months. The Senate passed a controversial bill that would have allowed up to 5,000 illegal migrant crossings per day for seven days straight before any action could be taken at the border.

The bill died in the Republican-controlled House, giving Democrats fodder to use on the campaign trail against Republicans. However, Biden’s sudden interest in securing the southern border after three years of neglect is not lost on the American people. Recent polling showed that he is bleeding support among black Americans who believe that illegal migration is negatively affecting the country.