Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced legislation Monday allowing the deportation of arrested undocumented immigrants before they've had a day in court.
The bill, entitled the Criminal Alien Deportation Act, requires the Department of Homeland Security to deport those arrested or convicted of a crime within 90 days of imprisonment. It accompanies a similar bill - the Stop Catch and Release Act of 2015 - which bans the current policy of releasing undocumented immigrants with pending charges.
"It is simply irresponsible to release known criminals into the public because their court hearings take years to process," McCain and Flake said in a joint press release. "Our bill would stop the reckless catch-and-release policies that have led to the murders of Grant, Kate, and many others by providing states the resources they need to quickly complete deportation trials."
Referenced in the statement are 23-year-old Grant Ronnebeck and 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle, who were shot and killed in separate incidents by men suspected of being in the country illegally. Steinle's death came at the hands of Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez; a five-time deported criminal released from a San Francisco prison three weeks after prosecutors dropped a drug charge against him.
Rather than notifying the DHS or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, a San Francisco county jail freed Lopez-Sanchez because of city's sanctuary laws which hold that only individuals convicted of a violent felony in the past seven years, and who are facing a similar charge, can be held for deportation.
GOP lawmakers and presidential candidates, including Donald Trump, began using Steinle's death as proof stricter immigration laws are required. Even Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton admitted the city "made a mistake" in releasing Lopez-Sanchez.
Introduction of McCain and Flake's bill comes on the heels of a Center for Immigration Studies report that found 8,145 criminals facing deportation were released from sanctuary cities between January 1 and August 31, 2014. Nearly 1,900 of the offenders - or 63 percent - were subsequently arrested for another crime in that time period.
Such information would be given to Congress if the Criminal Alien Deportation Act becomes law, as it requires the DHS to annually file a report detailing information on detainments, prosecutions, and deportations. It was also let the U.S. Attorney General designate up to 100 temporary immigration judges to ensure state has adequate resources to complete immigration cases.
"In Arizona, we've seen the success of detaining and swiftly prosecuting criminal immigrants under Operation Streamline," the joint statement read, "and our bill would be an important step in extending a 'zero tolerance' approach nationwide."