Should we increase the minimum sentence for immigrants who have been charged with illegally re-entering the country?
Bill Summary
This bill increases the minimum sentence to impose a mandatory five-year minimum prison sentence for immigrants who have twice been charged with illegally re-entering the country or have prior aggravated felony convictions. The law is named after Kate Steinle, who was killed in San Francisco in 2015 by an undocumented immigrant who had a criminal record and had not been turned over to authorities due to sanctuary city protections. Sponsor: Rep. Goodlatte, Bob [R-VA-6]
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Opponents say
• Greg Chen, director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the bill goes “hand in hand” with Trump’s overall mass deportation plan. “It’s a one-size-fits-all justice that is going to produce sentences that don’t fit the person’s circumstances or facts of life,” Chen said. “People who have lived here a long time may go to visit family in Mexico and then get picked up on the way back in.”
• Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of the liberal America’s Voice, wonders if Cornyn and McCaul included Kate’s Law to get groups supportive of reduced immigration to back their border bill. “The problem is, the more radical they make their bill, the less likely it is to pass,” she said in a statement to The Hill. “Our immigration laws are already harsh and extreme. They already bend toward deportation over family unification.”
• Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of the liberal America’s Voice, wonders if Cornyn and McCaul included Kate’s Law to get groups supportive of reduced immigration to back their border bill. “The problem is, the more radical they make their bill, the less likely it is to pass,” she said in a statement to The Hill. “Our immigration laws are already harsh and extreme. They already bend toward deportation over family unification.”
Proponents say
• "The House Judiciary Committee is working to improve our nation’s immigration laws and policy, and today I have introduced two, straightforward bills to enhance public safety," Goodlatte said in a statement Friday. "We owe it to the families of those who lost loved ones to take action to prevent these horrible crimes. They have waited far too long.”
• Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that supports Kate’s Law, said there has to be more of a deterrent for people who re-enter the country illegally. “If people understand [that] if they get caught they might go to prison, then they might not try to come back,” he said. “We might not have as many people going to prison because the threat of getting caught is enough to stop them from coming in the first place.”
• Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that supports Kate’s Law, said there has to be more of a deterrent for people who re-enter the country illegally. “If people understand [that] if they get caught they might go to prison, then they might not try to come back,” he said. “We might not have as many people going to prison because the threat of getting caught is enough to stop them from coming in the first place.”
