Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee - Oversight of the Administration's Misdirected Enforcement Policies: Examining the Impact and Honoring the Victims

Hearing

This committee continues to honor its pledge to conduct oversight over the implementation of
the laws Congress has passed as well as the policies and practices of the Executive Branch.

Today, we will focus on how this administration's immigration policies and practices are hurting
American families. The Committee will hear powerful testimony from a number of relatives
who have lost loved ones as a direct result of the administration's failure to deport criminals or
its tolerance of sanctuary policies.

Let me begin by extending a special welcome to our witnesses, especially family members of
victims. I hope you will accept our deepest sympathies for the losses you have each suffered.
Thank you very much for your willingness to share your stories, and for paying tribute to those
who, though no longer with us in body, are surely with us in spirit in this room.

Today, we will honor Josh, Kate, Dennis, Danny, Grant, and many others whose lives were
tragically cut short because of this administration's lax immigration policies. We had many
families and relatives who wanted to testify today, but unfortunately, we had to turn them away
because we were limited on time and space. However, we welcome their testimony for the
record and encourage them to commemorate their loved ones with stories and written letters to
the committee.

We will examine the administration's policies from the top down. We'll look at how federal
benefits are being granted to deportable criminals by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,
why criminals are being released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and how
enforcement of the laws can be better achieved.

We'll look at how we can improve cooperation between the government agencies here today.
And, we'll look into how we can improve cooperation between the federal government and states
and local law enforcement agencies.

We'll look at sanctuary jurisdictions and try to understand why policies protecting criminal
aliens are in place.

In the past few weeks, we have learned that there are thousands of detainers placed each year by
federal agents on undocumented immigrants with criminal records that are ignored.
According to government data, between January and September of 2014, there were 8,811
declined detainers in 276 counties in 43 states, including the District of Columbia.

Of the 8,811 declined detainers, 62 % were associated with over 5,000 individuals who were
previously charged or convicted of a crime or presented some other public safety concern.
And nearly 1,900 of the released offenders were arrested for another crime after being released
by a sanctuary jurisdiction.

This is disturbing -- not only to me, but to most Americans. There is no good rationale for noncooperation
between the feds and state and local law enforcement. Public safety is needlessly
and recklessly put at risk when state and local officials provide sanctuary to lawbreaking
immigrants just to make a political point.

The Obama administration, in too many cases, has turned a blind eye to enforcement, even
releasing thousands of criminals at its own discretion, many of whom have gone on to commit
serious crimes, including murder.

The administration has also granted deferred action to criminal aliens who have committed
heinous crimes after receiving this relief from deportation. I have written to Secretary Johnson
about four specific cases in which such individuals have received President Obama's Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

One of those beneficiaries was a known gang member when he applied and received DACA,
then went on to kill four people in North Carolina. Another DACA recipient used his work
authorization to gain employment at a popular youth camp in California, where he was recently
arrested for child molestation, and distribution of child pornography. I am still waiting for
responses on some of these cases.

Further, the administration has completely failed to do anything about sanctuary cities, all while
challenging states that took a more aggressive approach to enforcing the immigration laws.
I recently sent a letter to Attorney General Lynch and Homeland Security Secretary Johnson
about sanctuary cities. I urged them to take control of the situation to ensure detainers are not
ignored and undocumented individuals are safely transferred to federal custody and put into
deportation proceedings. I implored them to take a more direct role in the matter. I have not
received a response.

But, this isn't a new issue for the Obama Administration. I wrote to then-Secretary Napolitano
and then Attorney General Holder in 2012, and asked them to intervene in Cook County, Illinois,
another sanctuary jurisdiction. Nothing happened. In fact, since then, administration officials
have publicly stated that they neither believe detainers have to be honored, nor that they even
want them to be mandatory.

Enforcing the immigration laws of the United States is not a voluntary or trivial matter. Real
lives are at stake. Things cannot continue this way.

That is why I'm introducing legislation today that will hold sanctuary jurisdictions accountable.
It will require the Executive Branch to withhold certain federal funding if states or local law
enforcement refuse to cooperate with the federal government in holding or transferring criminal
aliens.

My bill will require that state and locals cooperate on criminal aliens or risk losing law
enforcement related grants that are distributed by the Department of Homeland Security and the
Department of Justice.

My bill will also require a mandatory minimum 5-year prison sentence in addition to a possible
fine for individuals who enter the United States after having been deported. Current law does
not require prison time and caps the possible prison sentence at 2 years. This section of my bill
is aimed at individuals who ignore our laws time and again.

No more people should die at the hands of those who break our laws just by being here. No more
families should have to go through what our witnesses have experienced.

Again, I'd like to thank our witnesses for taking the time to be with us today. Your strength and
determination to change the unacceptable status quo won't go unnoticed.

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