The bill, “House H.R. 3004: Kate’s Law,” named after Kathryn Steinle, who died after being shot by an undocumented immigrant, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanche. The case was deemed an accident and Jose wasn’t charged for murder. Jose was deported five times in the past and charged with multiple felonies, released from prison only a few months before the incident.
“Kate’s Law,” was proposed five days after Steinle’s death. According to Govtrack, H.R. 3004, “The bill provides that an alien who has been excluded, deported, removed, or denied admission, or who has departed the United States while under an outstanding order of exclusion, deportation, or removal, and who subsequently crosses or attempts to cross the border into the United States, shall be fined, imprisoned not more than two years, or both. (“Crosses the border” refers to the physical act of crossing the border, regardless of whether the alien is free from official restraint.)” The bill increases criminal retribution for people that have reentered the United States. The bill also bans the accused from challenging previous removal orders.
The bill was introduced in the house and senate by representative Bob Goodlatte. Fox News host, Bill O’ Reilly proposed the law to his viewers and with urgency told them to request a law that would enlist a sentence of at least five years for deported immigrants and were convicted of a felony.
Some believe that the bill is useless, wasteful, and unfair. These people think that if the bill is passed, then innocent people will end up in jail for no reason because they cannot challenge previous removals. If the bill is passed then the number of prisoners will increase by over fifty-thousand people. They also think that since reentry is already illegal, the bill does no good. The people that the bill would affect are those who have received a minimum sentence after being deported and/or convicted of at least one felony. Whereas proponents would say, “We owe it to the families of those who lost loved ones to take action to prevent these horrible crimes. They have waited far too long.”
The bill aims to affect illegal immigrants by increasing the minimum sentence. Some may contemplate that it will encourage more people to make better decisions knowing that the mandatory, least possible sentence is much longer. Government officials believe that if H.R. 3004 becomes a law the impact on the government will be dramatic. Molly Gill a government-affairs counsel at Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) says, “Kate’s Law would suck up every dime you saved from criminal-justice reform and negate it.” The bill affects taxpayers because of the high expenses of the bill.
If this bill is passed then people can expect a lot of controversy. But, this bill is very important because the threat of the lengthy sentence is enough to stop them from reentry in the first place. So, the high increase of inmates may not be as high as expected due to the mandatory minimum sentence. And it is true that families would be honoring their loved ones with this law and that we owe it to them to honor their lost ones too. The bill will operate in preventing the crimes before they happen.
