Unanimous Consent Request--S. 80
Floor Speech
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Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, it has become all too easy for pundits and politicians to reduce the security of our borders to a bumper sticker or billboard slogan.
As someone who appreciates the value of human life, as a survivor of sexual assault, and someone who cares deeply about the safety and security of women and children across the globe, I am horrified that we continue to put border security at the bottom of our policy to-do list.
On January 31, 2016--the same day as her college graduation--Iowan Sarah Root was killed by an illegal immigrant named Edwin Mejia. He was drag racing, with a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.
Despite repeated requests by local law enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed to detain Mejia because of a catch-and- release policy that ultimately allowed him to escape the country. Unfortunately, this is the same policy that President Biden supported during the Obama administration.
Still, more than 4 years later, Mejia remains a fugitive, denying Sarah's loved ones any sense of justice or closure. After today, I will have now live UC'd this bill twice, and I expect the same thing to happen today as did last time; that it will be objected to by my Democratic colleagues.
As a mother, I cannot fathom the grief that Sarah's family, her mother and father Michelle and Scott, her brother, and her friends continue to feel after such a devastating loss.
Sarah had her whole future in front of her, but her opportunity to make her mark on the world was tragically cut short. At the same time, while Sarah Root's mother and father grieve, a child, without a parent, continues to make the perilous journey at the hands of a smuggler. Many arrive here dehydrated and malnourished and subject to unspeakable atrocities, from rape to assaults.
Since Inauguration Day, we have seen record numbers of children at the border, a heartbreaking humanitarian crisis. Before then, the Migrant Protection Protocols, or the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy, was in place and helped keep migrants safely in Mexico until the United States had a chance to process them.
This policy singlehandedly reduced the need for bed space in the United States, protected migrants from that treacherous journey through Mexico, and kept our facilities from being dangerously overcrowded. Border Patrol agents were able to return to their originally assigned duties of patrolling for drugs and human traffickers.
But as we have heard time and again, and something that is very true, elections have consequences. President Biden, before he even had the chance to unpack, made serious changes to immigration policies--changes that have resulted in the national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border.
First, he rolled back the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy, and that is a big reason why we have a crisis at the border today. Instead of keeping migrants in Mexico and deterring those from making the dangerous journey north, the vacancy sign is on. But the reality is, we are out of space.
It feels as if the Biden administration is starting to see the reality of the disaster they created at our southern border. They are now walking this reversal back and asking the Mexican Government to reinstate the previous administration's policy.
On his first day in office, President Biden signed an Executive order suspending all domestic deportation proceedings. If Sarah Root's story played out today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not pick up her killer, and the same tragedy could happen again and again.
Although nothing can bring beautiful Sarah back to her family, we can ensure that the Federal Government never makes this mistake again.
Today, I rise to call upon my Senate colleagues to help make that happen, to stop another tragedy like Sarah's from happening with a simple and clean fix. I am asking the Senate to join myself and 22 of our colleagues and pass my bill, 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--like the Root family--know what happened to their loved ones.
Sarah's Law is about as commonsense an effort as there is. It recognizes the simple fact that all criminals should be held accountable for their actions--all criminals--and not simply allowed to slip back into the shadows. If Sarah's Law is passed, people who are in this country illegally and murder another person would be prioritized for deportation if released.
Who could be opposed to this?
In fact, a previous vote on this bill in the form of an amendment was supported by the majority of the Senate and was bipartisan.
No family should ever have to endure such a tragedy, especially one that could have been prevented.
80 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
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Ms. ERNST. Madam President, I appreciate the comments of my colleague, the Senator from Illinois, but there is no doubt that we have a problem in the United States today. Our immigration system does need to be reformed, but it does need to be done in a bipartisan manner.
This, when presented as an amendment on the floor of the Senate, was a bipartisan-supported amendment, and it deals with those who are charged with bodily injury of another person or of murder. That is what happened in Sarah's case.
ICE is given the opportunity to detain an individual, but in this case, ICE chose not to, even though a young woman was murdered by a man operating under multiple assumed names with no familial ties in the area. The man was allowed to slip back into the shadows, and Sarah Root's family will likely never ever see justice.
So the pendulum swings both ways. I would much rather see Edwin Mejia face justice than allow the family of a young murdered woman to go without.
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