(Radio Iowa) – A bill Senator Joni Ernst and the rest of Iowa’s congressional delegation has lobbied for since 2017 has been added to legislation that cleared the U-S Senate last (Monday) night.  “We can no longer prioritize illegal immigrants over public safety,” Ernst said. Sarah’s Law was named for Sarah Root of Council Bluffs who was killed nearly nine years ago by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally. Senator Joni Ernst says the man responsible for the 21-year-old Iowan’s death escaped justice because of a legal loophole.

“Too many times an illegal immigrant arrested for a violent crime posts bail,” Ernst said, “never to be heard from again.” Omaha Police said the man arrested for Sarah Root’s death on January 31st of 2016 had a blood alcohol level three times above the legal limit, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to take him into custody.

“Before the Root family could even lay Sarah to rest, her murderer posted bond and was released, never to be seen again,” Ernst said. Sarah’s Law would make it mandatory for federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with the death or serious injury of a person. The proposal has been added to the Lakin Riley Act, which requires federal detention for illegal immigrants charged with theft or burglary.

Riley was a nursing student, killed nearly a year ago in Georgia by a Venezuelan who’d been arrested for shoplifting and released before the murder. Ernst says without passage of these combined proposals, the deaths of Sarah Root and Lakin Riley are doomed to be repeated. “Those who come here illegally and harm our citizens should, without question, be detained so they face justice,” Ernst said.

The Lakin Riley Act, with Sarah’s Law added to it, is the first piece of legislation to win Senate passage in 2024. The House approved the Lakin Riley Act earlier this month, but must pass the combined bills before the legislation goes to President Trump’s desk.