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C-SPAN Senator Grassley Speech on Sarah Root
C-SPAN ^

Posted on 03/14/2016 7:10:54 PM PDT by Mean Daddy

Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee Remembering Sarah Root: Obama Immigration Priorities Present Moral Hazard March 14, 2016

Today, I want to pay tribute to Sarah Root, a young woman from Iowa who had a bright future, but was taken from this earth too soon.

Sarah was 21 years old, and just graduated from Bellevue University with perfect grades. 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. That driver was in the country illegally. The alleged drunk driver was Edwin Mejia, and he had a blood-alcohol content of .241, 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. As Sarah’s father said after laying his daughter to rest, “the cost of a bond cost less than a funeral.”

Those are painful words to hear, but what’s more frustrating is that the driver should have never been released. When local law enforcement apparently asked the federal government – specifically U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – to take custody of the person, the federal government declined. ICE refused to place a detainer on the driver. 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.”

Now, the Root family must face the consequences of the federal government’s inaction while grappling with their daughter’s death. 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.

But, this is not an isolated incident. It’s business as usual in the Obama Administration.

Because of the Administration’s policies and carelessness, Sarah Root became another victim. This case shows, once again, that there is a colossal and systematic breakdown of immigration enforcement, thanks to the Obama Administration’s flawed policies and lack of commitment to the rule of law.

Unfortunately, a talented young lady whose life was cut short, who didn’t have an opportunity to take on the world, is a story all too common.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: aliens; chuckgrassley; criminalalien; drunkdriving; ice; illegalalien; illegalimmigration; immigration; obamaimmigration; sarahroot
Link to video. Sarah was my daughter's best friend and she was murdered six weeks ago. Senator Grassley's office has been great and he did a speech on the senate floor today.
1 posted on 03/14/2016 7:10:54 PM PDT by Mean Daddy
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To: Mean Daddy

I am so sorry for your family’s loss. Well aware of this tragedy in Omaha.


2 posted on 03/14/2016 7:29:02 PM PDT by NEMDF
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To: Mean Daddy
Since this was a systematic failure on the part of a governmental agency sworn to uphold the very law that would have prevented this scumbag's release, it would seem to me that there are grounds for culpable criminal negligence here. If an auto manufacturer can be held liable for people hitting the gas instead of the brake, then a government can be held liable for the actions of a criminal it could have detained ... but chose not to.

This is criminal, in the literal, as well as figurative, sense.

3 posted on 03/14/2016 7:38:29 PM PDT by IronJack
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To: Mean Daddy

So sorry to hear about your loss. Here is the full text of his comments.

http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-obama-immigration-priorities-present-moral-hazard


4 posted on 03/14/2016 8:07:47 PM PDT by Whenifhow
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To: Mean Daddy

This stops when the regime - all three branches of government and its employees start being charged as accessories to murder. No civil suits; go for the whole bag.


5 posted on 03/14/2016 8:07:59 PM PDT by NTHockey (Rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners. And to the NSA trolls, FU)
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To: Mean Daddy

ELECT TRUMP!!!


6 posted on 03/14/2016 8:27:40 PM PDT by Ranger Warrior
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