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'Kate's Law': GOP could win big with bills addressing illegal immigration

On July 1, 2015 -- almost exactly two years ago to the day -- Kathryn Steinle was shot and killed while walking in San Francisco by an undocumented immigrant who had been deported from the U.S. multiple times after repeatedly entering the country illegally.

A law named for Kathryn, "Kate's Law," is one of two bills the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider on Thursday meant to both crack down on "sanctuary cities" and toughen penalties for those previously deported who re-enter or attempt to re-enter the country.

Kate Steinle was just one victim of a crime committed by an undocumented immigrant, and the stories of others like Kate -- those whose lives were ended by crimes committed by people who entered the U.S. illegally -- have found a prominent placement in the narrative of the downfalls of America's immigration system at the bedrock of President Trump's platform.

Many of these victims' families felt championed by the president's campaign agenda, and movement of these two bills through the House could mean Trump is one step closer to making good on his "law and order" promises he proudly touted throughout the 2016 election season.

Fathers like Jamiel Shaw and Steve Ronnebeck, whose sons were both gunned down by illegal immigrants, were invited by the Trump team to take part in campaign events. Jamiel Shaw appeared at the 2016 Republican National Convention to tell the story of his 17-year-old son's death, while Ronnebeck spoke at an August campaign rally in Phoenix, where he told a crowd of his son's being shot in the face while working a shift at a convenience store in Mesa, Ariz.


Sabine Durden's 30-year-old son, Dominic, was killed in 2012 while driving his motorcycle when an undocumented immigrant crashed into him with a pickup truck. Durden, like Jamiel Shaw, spoke of her son's death and the need for at the RNC.

"'I've been talking about my son's death since he was killed in 2012, and no one listened until Donald Trump," Durden said. "Donald Trump is not only my hero. He's my lifesaver."

Both "Kate's Law" and the "No Sanctuary for Criminals Act" are sponsored by GOP Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee.

"We passed [Kate's Law] in the last Congress and it didn't go anywhere," Goodlatte recently told Fox News, "and we're hoping the Senate will take it up because it has such enormous public support."

According to the Hill, Democrats will encourage members of their caucus to vote no on the bill cracking down on sanctuary cities, but will be less so pressing when it comes to "Kate's Law."
Northwest · M
So, these are two laws. Do you know the four laws that will be struck down, if these laws are passed? Half the arrests made by the Feds (total: 165,000) in fiscal 2014, were for immigration-related offenses (crossing illegally, or muling), that's 100% more than a decade earlier.
Northwest · M
@lov2smile:
Every single time I would give you a link...you ALWAYS came back and told me the link is not credible.

... and that's a lie all by itself. When I read the news, I use my brain and check for validity.

obama ordered the release of said criminals shortly after the arrest.

Let me repeat

I do not deny that arrests were made.
obama ordered the release of said criminals shortly after the arrest.

You really need to start by understanding what you're responding to.

I specifically quoted this:

(obama encouraged sanctuary cities to release criminals before Customs enforcement agency could take any action

and told you it was a lie. It's a lie. Provide sources.

The Pew Research Center is liberal institution? I'm still laughing.
lov2smile · 36-40, F
@Northwest:

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in 2015 decided not to deport but release 19,723 criminal illegal immigrants, including 208 convicted of murder, over 900 convicted of sex crimes and 12,307 of drunk driving, according to new government numbers.

Overall, those released into virtually every state and territory of America had a total of 64,197 convictions among them, for an average of 3.25 convictions each, according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies. ICE also said that the group were convicted of 8,234 violent crimes.

Meanwhile, ICE said that it has also slashed the number of criminals arrested in local communities, according to the Center's Director of Policy Studies, Jessica M. Vaughan. "In 2015, ICE made 119,772 arrests, or just half the number of arrests made in 2013, 232,287," she said in her analysis that also included a map of the releases.

The reason: Under President Obama's immigration policy changes, many criminal immigrants are being ignored even though local police and sheriff have urged ICE to take control of criminals in their jails and deport them.

She said that the slash of arrests is why the number of releases by ICE is down. In 2014, 30,000 criminal illegals were released.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday is holding a hearing on the issue of the releases. In a preview of the issues in the hearing, the committee said, "Each year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement releases tens of thousands of criminal aliens eligible for deportation. After release, many go on to commit additional crimes. With new restrictions on immigration enforcement through the president's executive actions, only narrow classes of removable aliens are priorities for arrest, questioning, detention, or removal. Therefore, millions of removable aliens will be able to remain in the country."

ICE for the first time explained why the illegals were released, with more than half ordered free by courts and in over 2,100 cases because their home countries didn't want them back.

The issue of released criminal illegal immigrants has erupted on the presidential campaign trail and in Congress, especially because several have gone on to commit further crimes, including murder. Republican front runner Donald Trump, for example, refers to the 2015 murder of Kate Steinle by a released criminal undocumented immigrant on a popular San Francisco pier.

"When ICE releases criminal aliens instead of deporting them, the chances are high that the aliens will re-offend. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 71 percent of violent offenders, 77 percent of drug offenders, and 82 percent of property offenders will be arrested for a new crime within five years of release from jail or prison. Drunk drivers are especially prone to offend repeatedly. According to an FBI statistic cited by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the average drunk driver has driven drunk 80 times before ever being arrested."

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ice-releases-19723-criminal-illegals-208-convicted-of-murder-900-of-sex-crimes/article/2589785

I await your typical denial.
Just because YOU say it's a lie, doesn't make it true.
Northwest · M
@lov2smile: Don't look now, but you provided a strawman argument, and gave your own answer to it. Love your use of bold, to bolster the claims of whoever that is.
firefall · 61-69, M
this is pathetic - the worst sort of rabblerousing, emotional appeals to override any sense of justice or law. Everyone connected with this should be deeply ashamed of themselves - making law based on individual cases is a terrible idea that repeatedly has produced horrendous injustice and perverse effects.
Northwest · M
@firefall: This is politically motivated, and all it did, was modify the existing law, to increase the minimum and maximum penalties, for re-entering the country illegally, from the previous minimum of 2 years and max of 6 years, to a minimum of 5 years and max of 10 years, and it adds a minimum sentence of 5 years to another part of the law (previously, it only listed a max of 10 to 20 years).

The real tragedy here, is that Kate's parents were used as political pawns, for a crime that the new law would NOT have prevented. The guy had already served more than 10 years in federal prisons, and additional time in local jails (Washington State).

He was free, due to mistakes made by both ICE and the SFPD. At the time SFPD released him, he did not have any federal charges pending, and no violent criminal past.

The family is suing both ICE and the city of San Francisco, but this may go nowhere, because the shooting was determined to be accidental, and it was a perfect storm of messing up, by a lot of people, and agencies:

1. A Forest ranger, is in town for a meeting, he leaves his .40 cal pistol in his car, in plain view.

2. Illegal Mexican, having served more than 10 years in US jails, was caught on suspicion of heroin use. No charges were pending against him in the system. ICE did not file the proper paperwork, he was released from jail.

3. Illegal gets high, sees the gun in the car, brakes the window, and takes gun.

4. Illegal heads down to pier 19, where sea lions hang out, and in his state of stupor, starts shooting in the direction of the sea lions, he fires a total of 3 shots. One shot ricochets against the pier, and strikes Kate (some 90 yards away) in the back, going through her aorta, killing her almost instantly.

How would Kate's law prevent her death? It wouldn't, but let's use it, and her tragic death, for political purposes.
lov2smile · 36-40, F
@Northwest:

I'm curious as to your response to this post...

https://similarworlds.com/18-Politics/950705-What-Did-Obama-Know-When-Did-He-Know-it
Northwest · M
@lov2smile: I can't see this thread, which means that the whoever started it blocked me.
TexChik · F
The libs in the senate don't like Kate's law because it points out the sanctuary city Problems ... it'll pass the house .
TexChik · F
@TexChik: and it has passed the house! And the house passed another immigration bill too! Yay!

 
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