US President Donald Trump and the Kate Law
The July 1, 2015 killing of the woman, allegedly at the hands of a man who wasn’t supposed to be in the country, intensified an already volatile debate over immigration and sanctuary cities – localities that refuse to hand over immigrants for deportation to federal officials.
US has urged lawmakers to bring “Kate’s Law” after meeting family of Kathryn Steinle, 32 who while walking with her father was shot dead on 1st July evening. Just two days before the second-year anniversary of Steinle’s shooting, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bill known as “Kate’s Law”, which would enhance penalties for convicted and deported criminals who re-enter the US illegally. It was first introduced in 2015, but it failed to advance in the Senate.
The death of Kathryn Steinle:
Steinle’s parents Steinle described his daughter, a San Francisco resident, as a beautiful young woman with deep faith, a contagious laugh and a smile that lit up a room. She has also been to the Mumbai slums where she had spent time with a woman’s family and returned to the US a changed person. She was a world traveler who has visited Amsterdam, Dubai, Spain, Thailand and South Africa.
The day Kate died, she changed her Face book cover photo that truly describes her spirit-‘Whatever is good for your soul do it.’
Kathryn Steinle died 2 hours later at San Francisco General Hospital after the bullet pierced her aorta said during testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee Steinle farther stated her last words as “Help me, Dad”, when she fell to the ground.
Steinle’s alleged killer, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, is a Mexican national with seven felony convictions who had been deported five times but had returned to the US. As per Steinle’s family wrongful-death lawsuit, San Francisco law enforcement officials later released him, despite a request from federal immigration officials to keep him in custody because of his undocumented status. At the time of Steinle’s killing, her murderer Lopez-Sanchez had 4 year federal prison sentence on ground of illegally re-entering the country.
As per the authorities, in less than three months, Lopez-Sanchez shot Steinle at San Francisco’s Pier 14 from a 40-calibre pistol stolen from the unlocked car of a US Bureau of Land Management ranger and shot Steinle at San Francisco’s Pier 14.
Shortly after his sister’s death, Brad Steinle slammed Trump, then a presidential candidate, for “sensationalising” the tragedy and using it to push for his immigration policies.
Shortly after his sister’s death, Brad Steinle came out as a vocal critic of US President. He slammed the real estate mogul for sensationalising the tragedy and using it to push for his immigration policies, basically for building a wall along the US-Mexico border.
In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in July 2015, Brad Steinle, Brother of Kathryn Steinle said that building a wall is not rational. He adds further that Donald Trump talks about Kate Steinle like he knew her. Trump had said in a statement that Steinle’s death as an another example of why they must secure US border. Brad Steinle has also criticised local and federal officials for the lack of accountability over his sister’s death.
The Acceptance and Rejection to the Bill:
American Civil Liberties Union along with other Civil rights groups of the nation called the law as a a shortsighted and ill-conceived response to the young woman’s slaying, have strongly opposed Kate’s Law. They argued that it’s blanket legislation that would penalize even those who come to the US to escape persecution.
Steinle’s parents publicly advocated for the bill in 2015. James Steinle, in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the July 2015 testimony said that the law as disjointed having basic incompetence on many levels resulted in his daughter’s killing. He further said that the family has realized the complexity of immigration laws some legislation has to be discussed, enacted or changed. They were proud to see Kate’s name associated to some of this new legislation and hoped that the law might save 1 daughter, 1 son, a mother or a father.
People would come up and ask them about Kate’s Law. He feels that may not Kate’s Law would hit the Senate or be passed which is depressing and aggravating and he is angry about this but that is the government they had.
The Murderer:
The 54 year old Lopez-Sanchez has been charged with murder along with possession of a firearm by a felon and assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
Though the criminal case remain is pending.
Matt Gonzalez, His attorney, had contended that his client found the gun and that the shooting was accidental.
About Kate Law:
Kate’s Law is another immigration bills scheduled for vote, the other one being no Sanctuary for Criminals Act that bars federal grants from sanctuary cities. It aims to allow victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants to sue those cities.
The House votes come at a critical time for the Trump administration. Passage of these bills might pave the way for a victory for Trump’s immigration agenda, specifically on sanctuary cities.
