Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills to improve make our communities safer and ensure the enforcement of federal immigration law.
 
“Fixing our broken immigration system starts by securing our border and enforcing our laws,” said Congressman Darrell Issa. “Two years ago, Kate Steinle died needlessly at the hands of a criminal alien repeatedly deported and convicted of numerous felonies. Her death is made all the more devastating given how preventable it was, had our immigration laws been enforced. Sanctuary policies send a message that, in some of our communities, federal law can be ignored without penalty, and only make our broken immigration system even worse. Unfortunately, California has chosen to go down a path of seeking to ignore federal law, which I fear would further endanger law-abiding citizens like Kate. Passing these bills will help prevent future tragedies and take an important step in making our communities safer.”

Background on the bills passed today:

No Sanctuary for Criminals Act (H.R. 3003):

• Strengthens the law to combat dangerous sanctuary policies that shield unlawful and criminal immigrants from federal immigration enforcement.
• Clarifies U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer authority – the tool used by federal immigration enforcement officers to pick up criminal aliens from local jails – by establishing statutory probable cause standards to issue detainers for the first time.
• Withholds certain federal grants from jurisdictions that violate federal law by prohibiting their officers from communicating with ICE.
• Protects jurisdictions that comply with detainers from being sued, while allowing victims of crime to sue jurisdictions that refuse to comply and subsequently release criminal aliens onto the streets.
• Contains Sarah and Grant’s Law, which ensures unlawful immigrants convicted of drunk driving or arrested for other dangerous crimes are detained during their removal proceedings.

Kate’s Law (H.R. 3004):

• Protects public safety by enhancing penalties for deported felons who return to the United States.
• The bill is named after Kate Steinle, who was murdered in San Francisco by an unlawful immigrant who had previously been deported five times and was convicted of multiple felonies.