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Apparently, a charge of killing someone with a car is not a good enough reason for detaining an illegal.
In a letter to Congress released Monday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah Saldana said that even being convicted of homicide isn’t enough to ensure that illegal aliens are detained by federal agents.
The Washington Times reports that neither Obama administration policy nor federal law required her agency to detain Edwin "Eswin" Mejia, an illegal immigrant from Honduras charged with vehicular homicide earlier this year in Nebraska.
ICE first encountered Mejia at the Arizona border in May 2013 when he was 16. The Border Patrol admitted him and turned him over to social services. He eventually went to live with his brother in the U.S. (it's unclear if his brother also is here illegally). Then this January, a drunken Mejia was street racing in Omaha when he hit a vehicle driven by Sarah Root, 21, who later died from her injuries.
Mejia posted bond on the homicide charge, and ICE officers did not come pick him up for detention, allowing him to abscond. Director Saldana said her officers should have detained him of their own volition and that she has notified all of her bureaus nationwide to do a better job of evaluating people they’re called to detain, reports the Times.
“After further review, we believe that further enforcement action would have served an important federal interest in this case,” Saldana said in a letter to Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse. She said her agency has asked Honduran officials to see if he shows up back there.
That wasn't enough for Senator Sasse, who called her response “an embarrassment” to her agency. He took up the issue with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, demanding in a letter to know who specifically was responsible for not picking up Mejia:
Why did ICE decline to detain Mr. Mejia, despite several requests to do so by the Douglas County Police Department? Were each of these requests denied on a case-by-case basis?
In her letter to Sasse, Saldana also said that being charged with vehicular homicide wasn’t enough to make Mejia a priority under standards set by President Obama and Homeland Secretary Johnson in 2014, who announced a policy of deporting only those with the most serious criminal records. Those policies mean that more than 9 million of the estimated 11 million illegals in the U.S. have little fear of being kicked out, notes the Times.
Even if Mejia were convicted of the charge, ICE still wouldn’t have to hold him, Saldana wrote:
Even if he were convicted of the offense, motor vehicle homicide — driving under the influence, the conviction would not constitute a crime of violence under the immigration laws, and consequently, would not constitute an aggravated felony. The conviction would not render him subject to mandatory detention, nor would it significantly impact his eligibility to apply for relief or protection from removal.
Mejia was already facing deportation under his unaccompanied minor case, though that proceeding has dragged on. His court appearance was slated for later this month — nearly three years after he first entered the U.S.
DHS Says Even Vehicular Homicide Not Enough to Detain Illegal Immigrants:
In a letter to Congress released Monday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah Saldana said that even being convicted of homicide isn’t enough to ensure that illegal aliens are detained by federal agents.
The Washington Times reports that neither Obama administration policy nor federal law required her agency to detain Edwin "Eswin" Mejia, an illegal immigrant from Honduras charged with vehicular homicide earlier this year in Nebraska.
ICE first encountered Mejia at the Arizona border in May 2013 when he was 16. The Border Patrol admitted him and turned him over to social services. He eventually went to live with his brother in the U.S. (it's unclear if his brother also is here illegally). Then this January, a drunken Mejia was street racing in Omaha when he hit a vehicle driven by Sarah Root, 21, who later died from her injuries.
Mejia posted bond on the homicide charge, and ICE officers did not come pick him up for detention, allowing him to abscond. Director Saldana said her officers should have detained him of their own volition and that she has notified all of her bureaus nationwide to do a better job of evaluating people they’re called to detain, reports the Times.
“After further review, we believe that further enforcement action would have served an important federal interest in this case,” Saldana said in a letter to Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse. She said her agency has asked Honduran officials to see if he shows up back there.
That wasn't enough for Senator Sasse, who called her response “an embarrassment” to her agency. He took up the issue with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, demanding in a letter to know who specifically was responsible for not picking up Mejia:
Why did ICE decline to detain Mr. Mejia, despite several requests to do so by the Douglas County Police Department? Were each of these requests denied on a case-by-case basis?
In her letter to Sasse, Saldana also said that being charged with vehicular homicide wasn’t enough to make Mejia a priority under standards set by President Obama and Homeland Secretary Johnson in 2014, who announced a policy of deporting only those with the most serious criminal records. Those policies mean that more than 9 million of the estimated 11 million illegals in the U.S. have little fear of being kicked out, notes the Times.
Even if Mejia were convicted of the charge, ICE still wouldn’t have to hold him, Saldana wrote:
Even if he were convicted of the offense, motor vehicle homicide — driving under the influence, the conviction would not constitute a crime of violence under the immigration laws, and consequently, would not constitute an aggravated felony. The conviction would not render him subject to mandatory detention, nor would it significantly impact his eligibility to apply for relief or protection from removal.
Mejia was already facing deportation under his unaccompanied minor case, though that proceeding has dragged on. His court appearance was slated for later this month — nearly three years after he first entered the U.S.
DHS Says Even Vehicular Homicide Not Enough to Detain Illegal Immigrants:
