Unanimous Consent Request--S. 285

Floor Speech

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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.

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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.

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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?

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