Kate Steinle Immigration Bill Revived in Congress 8 Years After Her Death

Republican Lawmakers Push for Tougher Penalties for Criminal Illegal Immigrants at the Border

Republican lawmakers are taking action to strengthen penalties for illegal immigrants with criminal histories who are apprehended at the border. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, along with Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK), have reintroduced Kate’s Law, a bill that aims to establish a minimum five-year sentence for noncitizens with multiple convictions or aggravated felonies.

“We need tougher penalties for individuals who re-enter our country illegally, especially those who do so with a long rap sheet to their name,” Grassley stated. “It’s dangerous and unjust to let these criminals off the hook. I hope Democrats will wake up to the reality at our southern border and drop opposition to this bill. The safety of American citizens depends on it.”

Kate’s Law is named after Kate Steinle, a 32-year-old American woman who was tragically shot and killed in San Francisco in 2015 by a previously deported illegal immigrant. The perpetrator, Jose Inez Garcia Zarate of Mexico, had been deported five times before the incident. He confessed to finding a gun on a pier and accidentally shooting Steinle while playing with it.

“Eight years ago, when I first introduced Kate’s Law, I was just as shocked and dismayed as I am today that Kate Steinle was killed by an illegal felon who had reentered the U.S.,” Cruz expressed. “Almost a decade has passed, and we still haven’t strengthened federal law to prevent such tragedies from happening again.”

Since the start of the Biden administration, over 2 million illegal immigrants, including unaccompanied children, have been released from federal custody at the border and allowed to remain in the country pending court proceedings. Disturbingly, some of these individuals have been affiliated with gangs or have lied about their age and background. In two separate cases, a Virginia woman and a Florida man were murdered by immigrants who had been released into their communities.

The introduction of the bill coincided with the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Biden administration’s plan to prioritize certain illegal immigrants for arrest and deportation. While federal law permits Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest any person without legal standing in the country, the agency has limited resources and must prioritize its targets.

Kate’s Law specifically focuses on addressing illegal immigrants with criminal histories at the border. Typically, ICE arrests illegal immigrants who are already inside the U.S. and have been apprehended by local law enforcement, flagged by criminal databases, and identified for immigration violations.

Jose Inez Garcia Zarate had seven felony convictions at the time of his 2015 arrest. Although he was acquitted of homicide charges, he pleaded guilty to federal firearms charges and was sentenced to the seven years he had already spent in jail.

Source: The Washington Examiner

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases