Sen. Cruz Encourages Colleagues to Pass Kate's Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today delivered a speech on the Senate floor on Kate’s Law, which is slated to receive a vote this afternoon. Sen. Cruz first introduced a version of Kate’s Law last July and reintroduced the current version in October. The legislation is named for Kate Steinle, the 32-year-old woman who tragically died in the arms of her father on a San Francisco pier after being shot by an illegal alien who had several felony convictions and had been deported from the United States five times. This bill would strengthen federal law by increasing the maximum sentence for illegal reentry to five years, creating a new illegal reentry penalty of up to 10 years for anyone who had previously been denied admission or deported at least three times, and imposing a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for anyone convicted of illegal reentry who had a prior aggravated felony or had been convicted of illegal reentry twice before.

In his speech, Senator Cruz noted, 

"We are failing to adequately deter deported illegal aliens from illegally reentering the country, especially those with violent criminal records. That's why we need to pass Kate's law. We must increase the risks, the penalties, for those who would contemplate illegally returning to the United States to commit acts of murder… 

"This vote ought to be an easy decision. Just ask yourself, with whom do I stand? I hope that my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, will choose to stand with the American people, the people who we should be protecting rather than convicted felons like Kate Steinle's killer.

"All Americans, regardless of Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, all Americans deserve to be protected, and we need a government that stops allowing violent illegal aliens to prey on the innocents. If our Democratic colleagues make the choice to put politics over protecting innocent Americans, by refusing to enforce our immigration laws, the consequences of that are immense. Doing so is quite literally playing with people's lives." 

A backgrounder on Kate’s Law may be viewed here.

Watch Sen. Cruz’s remarks on Kate's Law here. A transcript of the senator’s speech in its entirety is below:

"A second topic that I wish to address on the floor today. Last week, as many of us were looking forward to Independence Day, vacations with our family, fireworks, hot dogs by the grill, another family was mourning a loss. A loss of a daughter, a loss of a life, a loss that should never have occurred. Last Friday was the one-year anniversary of the senseless killing of a vivacious 32-year-old young woman, Kate Steinle. She was shot as she was walking arm and arm with her dad on a San Francisco pier. After the bullet tore through her, she collapsed to the ground, crying out, "Dad, help me. Help me." She died two hours later.

"As the father of two daughters, I cannot imagine the anguish, the heartbreak that was going through Mr. Steinle as he held his dying daughter. Her murderer was an illegal alien, and he wasn't just any illegal alien. He was one who had already been deported five times. On top of that, he had a long rap sheet that included up to seven felonies. Madam President, what was he doing on that San Francisco pier? He should never have been there. And if he was not there, Kate Steinle would be alive today.

"Just a few months before killing Kate, this illegal alien was released from the custody of the San Francisco sheriff's office, even though the immigration and customs enforcement, the federal agency responsible for deporting illegal aliens, had requested that he remain in custody. The federal government had said “keep this criminal illegal alien in custody,” and the San Francisco sheriff said, “no, we will release him to the public.” The San Francisco sheriff's office refused to honor that request because of a so-called sanctuary city policy that prohibits the San Francisco sheriffs deputies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement officers.

"Local cities putting in place policies that prohibit local law enforcement from working to keep our country safe. The sad truth is that Kate should be alive today, but she isn't because the federal government failed her. It has failed to secure the border. It has failed to faithfully and vigorously enforce the immigration laws that are on the books. It has failed to strengthen those laws to deter illegal aliens, like Kate's killer, from coming back over and over and over again. And it has failed to enforce the law against sanctuary jurisdictions, which now number in the hundreds all across America, that aid and abet illegal aliens evading deportation.

"The President of the United States is the officer charged by the constitution with the sole responsibility to faithfully execute the law. When his administration tolerates and encourages lawlessness, is it any surprise that terrible things happen? We must put an end to this administration's lax enforcement of our immigration laws which threatens the safety and security of the American people. And we should begin by putting a stop to sanctuary cities, which this administration has been unwilling to do on his own. A real President, faithful to the constitution, would end sanctuary cities bill cutting off money to any jurisdiction openly defying federal immigration law.

"That's why I'm a proud cosponsor of Senator Pat Toomey's “Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act,” which would withhold federal grant money from cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement officers. Cities that flout federal laws should not be rewarded with federal taxpayer dollars. We must also address the persistent problem of aliens, like Kate's killer, who illegally reentered this country after deportation. That's why I introduced exactly one year ago an earlier version of Kate's law.

"Unfortunately no action was taken on that bill until it was incorporated into Senator Vitter's “Stop Sanctuary Policies Act,” and then senate Democrats voted in virtual lock step to defeat the bill. Last fall I went again to the senate floor and asked for the unanimous consent to pass Kate's law as a stand-alone bill, but the senior senator from California, the very state where Kate's senseless murder had occurred, stood on this floor and objected.

Today I thank senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for scheduling a vote on Kate's law and a separate vote on stopping sanctuary cities, for giving this body another chance to address the problem, to listen to the people. The time for politics is over. We should come together and protect the American people. It is a time to confront the sobering issue of illegal aliens, many of whom have serious criminal background and yet who are allowed to illegally reenter this country with impunity.

"Kate's law would do three things. First, it would increase the maximum criminal penalties for illegal reentry from two to five years. Second, it would create a new penalty of up to ten years in prison for any person who has been denied admission or deported three or more times and then illegally reenters the country. And finally, and most importantly, it would create a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for anyone convicted of illegal reentry who, like Kate's killer, had an aggravated felony prior to deportation. Or had been convicted of illegal reentry twice before. This class of illegal aliens have a special disregard and disdain for our nation's law. Violent criminals who keep coming in over and over and over again, and all too often these illegal aliens have criminal records that go back years or even decades. 

"In 2012, for example, just over one quarter of the illegal aliens apprehended by the border patrol had prior deportation orders. That's an astounding 99,420 illegal aliens. In fiscal year 2015, of the illegal reentry offenders who were actually convicted -- that's 15,715 offenders -- the majority had extensive or recent criminal histories. At least one-third had a prior aggravated felony conviction. But even though the majority of offenders had criminal records, the average prison sentence was just 16 months, down from an average of 22 months in 2008. In fact, more than a quarter of illegal reentry offenders received a sentence below the guidelines range because the government sponsored the low sentence.

"Clearly we are failing to adequately deter deported illegal aliens from illegally reentering the country, especially those with violent criminal records. That's why we need to pass Kate's law. We must increase the risks, the penalties, for those who would contemplate illegally returning to the United States to commit acts of murder. I want to thank all of the leaders in this body. I want to thank leaders like Bill O'Reilly for shining a light on this vital issue.

"This vote ought to be an easy decision. Just ask yourself, with whom do I stand? I hope that my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, will choose to stand with the American people, the people who we should be protecting rather than convicted felons like Kate Steinle's killer.

"It is worth noting that the city of San Francisco, bright blue Democratic San Francisco, voted out the sheriff after the murder of Kate Steinle. All Americans, regardless of Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, all Americans deserve to be protected, and we need a government that stops allowing violent illegal aliens to prey on the innocents. If our democratic colleagues make the choice to put politics over protecting innocent Americans, by refusing to enforce our immigration laws, the consequences of that are immense. Doing so is quite literally playing with people's lives.

"This isn't hyperbole. It is unfortunately just a fact. Kate's death tragically was not just an isolated occurrence, as much as we all wish that were the case. Just last week an illegal alien killed three innocent people and wounded a fourth outside a blueberry farm in Oregon. According to I.C.E. Officials the illegal alien had been deported from the United States an astounding six times since 2003. Enough is enough. Stop letting in violent criminal illegal aliens who are murdering innocent Americans. This should bring us all together. How many more of these terrible acts must we endure until congress acts? What does it take to break the partisan gridlock and actually come together and protect the American people? The votes this afternoon will help answer that question.

"I very much hope we will not wait one day longer. I urge my colleagues to stand together united against lawlessness, to stand against dangerous criminal illegal aliens who flout our laws. And I urge each of us to hear the words of Kate Steinle: 'Help me, dad. Help me, dad.' That was a cry that went, not just to a grieving father, but it is a cry that should pierce each and every one of us and move this body out of slumber and into action to help and stand with the American people."

###