The bill is named in honor of Sarah Root—a young woman who was killed by an illegal immigrant who was released by federal law enforcement due to a loophole in the law.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Recently, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) and his colleagues reintroduced Sarah’s Law, legislation that requires federal law enforcement to detain illegal immigrants criminally charged with killing or seriously injuring another person. Sarah’s Law is named after Sarah Root, a woman killed by an illegal immigrant who was released by federal law enforcement due to a loophole in the law and never faced justice. Her killer posted bond, disappeared, and is still at-large five years later.
This comes as the Biden Administration is rolling back immigration enforcement and reversing President Trump’s executive order prioritizing prosecuting illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes. In his first week in office, President Biden reversed the Trump Administration’s executive order that includes parts of Sarah’s Law.
“I have said it time and time again, we have to start prioritizing law-and-order and public safety,” said Senator Tillis “When an individual, who is here illegally, commits a crime within our borders, that person must be detained and not released back into our communities. It is unbelievable that we have to introduce legislation, like Sarah’s Law, to make sure this happens. I urge President Biden to start putting law-abiding citizens first and stop prioritizing reckless immigration laws. I supported this commonsense legislation so we can crack down on violent criminals here illegally and work towards safer communities.”
Background:
Sarah’s Law would amend the mandatory detention provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the federal government to take custody of anyone who entered the country illegally, violated the terms of their immigration status or had their visa revoked and is thereafter charged with a crime resulting in the death or serious bodily injury of another person.
The legislation also requires ICE to make reasonable efforts to identify and provide relevant information to the crime victims or their families. Under this law, Sarah’s killer would have been detained by law enforcement and not allowed to flee from justice. The Root family would have been kept up-to-date on his status and federal immigration authorities’ efforts to remove him from the United States.
In January 2017, President Trump implemented major parts of Sarah’s Law via Executive Order, which included prioritized detention of criminal illegal immigrants and the creation of the Office of Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement. President Biden revoked this order on his first day in office. Passage of Sarah’s Law would codify the order into law, to prevent future administrations from deprioritizing the detention of illegal immigrants who commit crimes involving death or serious bodily injury, and restricting information to victims of such crimes.
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