Democrat senator thwarts GOP effort to pass bill detaining illegal immigrants charged with violent crime

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, attempted to force a floor vote Wednesday on a law that would require illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the hope of preventing avoidable attacks and resulting deaths. 

The Iowa Republican’s unanimous consent request was thwarted by Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who objected to the request. 

Ernst requested unanimous consent from her colleagues in order to advance Sarah’s Law to the floor for a vote, asking during a floor speech, “How many young Americans must die? How many families must be ripped apart for this administration to wake up and take border security seriously?”

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The bill would require ICE to take into custody of illegal immigrants who are arrested and charged with causing the deaths or serious injury of another. This was reiterated by Ernst during her speech. “It would merely require ICE to detain, just to detain, otherwise deportable illegal immigrants charged with killing or seriously injuring another person,” she said. 

Durbin claimed the bill would detain victims of trafficking or domestic abuse who were charged with crimes. According to him, the bill would “deprive immigrants of the due process that everyone is afforded.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, talks to reporters following the weekly Senate Republican policy luncheon in the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 14, 2023 in Washington, D.C.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The measure’s namesake, Sarah Root, was a 21-year-old Iowa woman who was killed by a drunk driver who was also in the country illegally. Ernst noted that the suspect, Edwin Mejia, was able to post bond and ultimately escape facing the court. 

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“Citing the Obama administration’s November 2014 memo on immigration enforcement priorities, ICE declined to take custody of Mejia, despite his repeated driving offenses and history of skipping court dates,” the senator explained. 

Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico, with the U.S.-Mexico border barrier in the background, on August 6, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona.  ((Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))

She also referenced the recent death of University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, in which another illegal immigrant, Jose Ibarra was arrested and has been charged with several crimes, including malice murder and felony murder, among others. 

News of Riley’s killing made headlines across the country last month and has prompted congressional Republicans to demand answers. According to Ernst, both Root and Riley’s deaths are “doomed to be repeated,” under the current policies. 

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Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Thursday, February 22, 2024. (Allyson Phillips/Facebook)

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The senator pointed to the immigration practice known as “catch and release,” during which illegal immigrants seeking entry on the basis of asylum are released during the processing period. “Instead of being detained while he was processed, he was released into our country — never to be heard from again,” she said. 

While Ibarra may have been prevented from allegedly killing Riley had he been detained upon entry to the country, Sarah’s Law would not have stopped the attack, as Ibarra’s criminal record doesn’t include crimes in which others were killed or injured.