Fugitive Charged in Death of Sarah Root was placed under Brother’s Supervision
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate delegations from Iowa and Nebraska are seeking details on the Obama Administration’s decision to place an unaccompanied minor immigrant in the care of his older brother, who was illegally residing in the United States. Edwin Mejia entered the country as a minor, was transferred out of federal custody, and is now a fugitive charged in an Omaha drunk driving incident that killed 21-year-old Iowan Sarah Root.
“We are deeply concerned that an unaccompanied alien minor, Edwin (a.k.a. “Eswin”) Mejia, was released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to a sponsor who was reportedly in the United States illegally. We would appreciate a better understanding of what happened in light of the fact that Mejia, now almost 20 years old, has since been charged with a crime resulting in the death of a U.S. citizen, absconded from authorities, and remains a fugitive at-large,” Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst and Nebraska Senators Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell.
The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for placing unaccompanied minor immigrants with adult sponsors who live in the United States. The Department is also responsible for conducting background checks on potential sponsors prior to placing minors under their supervision. However, a recent Government Accountability Office report reveals that the Department fails to routinely and thoroughly conduct background checks of potential sponsors to determine whether they are suited to supervise a minor.
The Senators are seeking details on the steps the Department took to ensure that Mejia’s brother, Santos Jesus Romero-Mejia, was qualified to be responsible for the care of a minor, as well as whether the Department has maintained any communication with the brothers after Mejia was placed with Romero-Mejia. The Senators have also raised concern that the Department of Homeland Security didn’t consider Mejia to be an enforcement priority. They have not received full responses to those inquiries.
Grassley, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees immigration policy, has raised concerns about inadequate background checks, including skipped child abuse and neglect checks, that leave unaccompanied minor immigrants in the care of criminals, according to whistleblower reports.
Text of the Senators’ letter to Secretary Burwell
