An illegal criminal alien from Mexico who was arrested three times and released is now in ICE custody after he killed a Lakewood mother and her child in a drunk driving crash last week. The case has sparked intense scrutiny of Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill’s support of illegal immigration, sanctuary cities, and her opposition to the Laken Riley Act.
Raul Luna Perez was released from New Jersey jails for three serious crimes that would have seen him detained by ICE had the Laken Riley Act been law at the time of his arrests. It could have prevented the death of a mother and her child, and the critical injury of another child in New Jersey.
Now Congresswoman Sherrill, a Democrat from New Jersey who is running for governor, is facing renewed scrutiny over her immigration stance as she positions herself for a potential run for governor of a state that maintains sanctuary policies.
Critics are pointing to her vote against the Laken Riley Act, now law, which mandates the detention of undocumented immigrants charged with certain violent or theft-related crimes.
The act, named after Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student murdered by an undocumented immigrant who had previously been arrested for theft, was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by President Trump. It mandates Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain non-citizens who are arrested, charged with, or admit to committing crimes such as theft, assault on law enforcement, or any act resulting in death or serious bodily harm.
In addition to expanding the list of crimes that trigger mandatory ICE detention, the Laken Riley Act allows states to sue the federal government over immigration enforcement decisions if those decisions are deemed to endanger the state or its residents.
Sherrill was among a minority of lawmakers who voted against the legislation. Her vote has drawn criticism from political opponents and immigration enforcement advocates in the wake of a recent fatal crash in Lakewood, New Jersey, involving an undocumented immigrant with a history of arrests. That crash claimed the lives of a mother and her 11-year-old daughter. A second young girl was hospitalized in critical condition.
Sherrill has not publicly commented on the Lakewood incident while on the campaign trail, ignoring the plight of the family now without a mother and a daughter, struggling with a second child in the hospital.
New Jersey’s sanctuary state status has increasingly become a flashpoint in the debate over immigration and public safety.
Key Points
- Rep. Mikie Sherrill voted against the Laken Riley Act, which mandates ICE detention for non-citizens charged with violent or serious crimes
- The act was passed after the murder of Laken Riley by an undocumented immigrant with prior theft charges
- Sherrill is now under criticism as she considers a run for governor of New Jersey, a sanctuary state
