Kate's Law

Today marks the two-year "anniversary" of the murder of Kate Steinle. Kate was a young woman walking on a pier in San Francisco with her family when an illegal immigrant named Francisco Sanchez, a man who had been deported five times and had seven felony convictions but who had nevertheless been released from jail onto the streets of the sanctuary city that is San Francisco, walked up and shot her in the back.

She died in her father's arms. Her last words were "Help me, Daddy."

As Attorney Jeff Sessions said on Wednesday:

Lopez-Sanchez should never have been on that pier with Kate. He should have been in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). And he would have been if San Francisco had only notified ICE of his release from the city’s custody, as ICE had requested. But San Francisco refused to do so. The city continues to refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. In fact, it’s city policy.

Kate Steinle

In memory of Kate and all the other victims of illegal aliens in this country, the House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation called "Kate's Law". Under the bill, if a deported alien reentered the U.S. illegally with a felony conviction or three misdemeanors on their record, he or she would go to federal prison for up to 10 years. Someone who is caught illegally crossing the border after having been deported three or more times would also serve up to 10 years.

The bill passed with a vote of 257 to 157, with one Republican voting no and 24 Democrats voting yes.

An earlier bill that would deny federal funds to "sanctuary cities" which refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities, passed with a vote of 228-195 with 3 Democrats voting yes and 7 Republicans voting no.

Both bills must also be passed by the Senate where they will get very little Democrat support and will likely fail since Democrats have already said they will filibuster them and they already blocked an earlier version of Kate's Law in the Senate last year.

It's very difficult to understand why anyone who cares about the Kate Steinles of this nation would oppose this legislation, but everyone, from President Obama to the mayor and sheriff of San Francisco, who refused to enforce our immigration laws, must share responsibility for her death.

Moreover, responsibility for whatever tragedies befall any American citizens in the future at the hands of illegal aliens must be borne by every legislator who refuses to support legislation that would keep those aliens, especially those with criminal records, off our streets.

Earlier on Wednesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas D. Homan and U.S. Attorney for Utah John W. Huber made their case for the bills during the White House press briefing.

Huber said 40 percent of Utah’s current felony caseload involves criminal alien prosecutions and the number is increasing.

The bills, Huber asserted, would “advance the ball for law enforcement in keeping our communities safe” and “would give officers and prosecutors more tools to protect the public.

Many immigration rights groups have characterized efforts to crack down on sanctuary cities as “anti-immigrant,” but Attorney General Jeff Sessions says it is not sound policy to allow sanctuary cities to flout federal immigration laws.

According to Homan, ICE already has arrested nearly 66,000 individuals this year that were either known or suspected to be in the country illegally. Of those arrested, 48,000 were convicted criminal aliens.

On Wednesday, President Trump highlighted other cases during a White House meeting with more than a dozen families of people who had been victimized by illegal immigrants, including Jamiel Shaw Sr.

Shaw’s 17-year-old son Jamiel was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant in California in March 2008.

“He was living the dream," Shaw said during the meeting. "That was squashed out.”

Why is it "anti-immigrant" to want to take common-sense measures to lessen the chances that there will be more Jamiel Shaws and Kate Steinles in the future? How many of those who oppose these bills would oppose them had Kate or Jamiel been their own daughter or son?

The Democrats can oppose this legislation if they choose, but it's hard to imagine how doing so will help their candidates running for office in 2018.