In both states, Nebraska's and Iowa’s senators unveiled new bills on Thursday, June 30th 2016, requiring federal immigration officials (ICE) to take custody of someone in the country illegally when he or she is charged with a crime resulting in death or serious injury.
The lawmakers are calling their bill “Sarah’s Law” in honor of Sarah Root, a 21-year-old Iowan killed earlier this year in an Omaha crash that prosecutors say was caused by a man in the country illegally.
The lawmakers are Sens. Joni Ernst and Charles Grassley of Iowa and Ben Sasse and Deb Fischer of Nebraska.
Prosecutors say that an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, Eswin Mejia, 19, had a blood alcohol content three times the .08 legal limit when his pickup truck slammed into the back of Root’s SUV. Officials say he had been street racing.
Mejia was arrested after the crash, but he was released on bail a few days later and disappeared. Omaha police say they had contacted ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, but they declined to issue a detainer for Mejia (declined to place him into ICE custody and refer him for removal or deportation to Immigration Court)
The new legislation would amend the mandatory detention provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It will require immigration officials to identify and provide relevant information to crime victims and their families.
“It is an outrage that our immigration system has become so convoluted that someone who came here illegally or overstayed their visa and is responsible for the death of an American citizen is not considered an enforcement priority and is not detained,” Senator Joni Ernst said in a press release.
Read more here.
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