Prepared Senate Floor Statement by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Sarah Root & the Failure of the President’s Immigration Policies
Monday, April 18, 2016
Today, I want to pay tribute to Sarah Root, a young woman from Iowa who just graduated from college with perfect grades. She was devoted to her family and friends, and had a bright future. But she was taken from this earth too soon.
I want to express my sympathies to Sarah’s parents and acknowledge Michelle Root, Sarah’s mother, who is in the gallery today. She will be testifying tomorrow before the House Committee on the Judiciary at a hearing titled, “The Real Victims of a Reckless and Lawless Immigration Policy: Families and Survivors Speak Out on the Real Cost of This Administration’s Policies.”
The hearing will focus on how the Obama Administration’s failed immigration policies allow thousands of criminal aliens to roam free. Michelle Root will share her personal story about the loss of her daughter and how someone in the country illegally was able to walk free and abscond from authorities after fatally hitting her daughter’s vehicle on graduation night.
Sarah was 21 years old, and had just graduated from Bellevue University with an interest in pursuing a career in criminal justice. In the words of her family, “she was full of life and ready to take on the world.” According to a close friend of hers, Sarah was smart, outgoing, and dedicated to her friends and family. She embodied the words tattooed on her skin: Live, Laugh, Love.
The day Sarah graduated, she was struck by a drunk driver in the country illegally. The alleged drunk driver was Edwin Mejia, who had a blood-alcohol content of more than three times the legal limit. The driver was charged with felony motor vehicle homicide and operating a vehicle while intoxicated on February 3. Bail was set at $50,000, but he was only required to put up 10 percent. So, for a mere $5,000, the drunk driver walked out of jail and into the shadows.
This case has shed light on the breakdown between the federal government and state and locals. It has also been a terrible example of why the President’s policies don’t work, and how they are having a dire effect on American families like the Root family.
Under President Obama’s Priority Enforcement Program, a person in the country illegally will only be detained or removed in a few limited circumstances. The administration hides behind these so-called “priorities” to ensure that a vast majority of people in the country are not removed. Some say that nearly 90,000 illegal immigrant criminals were released in 2015 because of this policy.
The Administration’s polices result in tragedies like Sarah’s. A smart young lady who had a bright future was struck by a drunk driver who entered the country illegally, and was turned over to a brother who was also in the country illegally, while awaiting his immigration court date.
After the accident, local law enforcement apparently asked the federal government – specifically U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – to take custody of the driver, but the federal government declined. ICE refused to place a detainer on him. An ICE spokesman stated that the agency did not lodge a detainer on the man because his arrest for felony motor vehicle homicide “did not meet ICE’s enforcement priorities.”
The driver made bond and absconded, never showing up for his hearings and required drug tests. It is difficult for the family to have closure since the man is nowhere to be found. It’s unknown if he’s still in the United States or if he has fled to his home country of Honduras.
Sarah Root is one of many victims who have been harmed or killed because of lax immigration enforcement and the notion that drunk driving isn’t always a public safety threat.
Even though this tragic accident happened in the heartland of America, this is a border security problem. The driver of the vehicle that killed Sarah entered the country illegally. Every day, people are illegally entering the country, being removed, entering again, and committing more crimes. Illegal re-entries are happening because there are no consequences. That is what happened in Kate Steinle’s death. And, that’s why we need to move on Kate’s law. That bill would deter people from illegally re-entering by enhancing penalties and establishing new mandatory minimum sentences for certain individuals with previous felony convictions.
The Obama Administration cannot continue to turn a blind eye to drunk drivers, sanctuary communities, and people who ignore our laws, overstay their visas or cross the border time and again. I’m still waiting for answers from the Obama Administration on this case and many more. There are many unanswered questions.
How many more people have to die? How many more women and young people are going to be taken from their family and friends?
Things have got to change. The President must rethink his policies and must find a way to ensure that criminal immigrants are taken off the streets. The Obama Administration should try enforcing the law, instead of its priorities, for the sake of the American people.
I want to wish Michelle Root the best of luck while she is in Washington this week, and send my thoughts to her father who is trying to find justice back home.
I yield the floor.
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