Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced the extradition of an illegal alien who fled to Honduras to evade prosecution for allegedly killing a young American woman in a drunk-driving incident.
Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) just extradited Eswin Mejia, an illegal alien arrested in the vehicular homicide death of 21-year-old Sarah Root, from Honduras to finally face justice "once and for all."
The extradition and arrest of this criminal alien is the culmination of a decades-long battle for justice for Sarah Root and her family.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) March 21, 2025
Thanks to the hard work of our Homeland Security Investigations and our interagency law enforcement partners, Eswin Mejia, who fled the US to… https://t.co/CDXHMmwcro pic.twitter.com/vMonuEXrnI
On January 31, 2016, the night of Root's college graduation, Mejia allegedly killed her while street racing and drunk driving in Douglas County, Nebraska. He hit her car at a stoplight, per police. According to authorities, Mejia's blood alcohol content was three times over the legal limit at the time. However, he was released on $5,000 bond due to a loophole in immigration law and then fled the country. Now, more than nine years after Root's death, Mejia is in U.S. custody.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, Sarah's Law was introduced into Congress and later added as an amendment to the Laken Riley Act. Sarah's Law, one the first pieces of legislation President Donald Trump signed into law, makes it mandatory for federal law enforcement to detain illegal aliens who have committed certain crimes resulting in the death or serious bodily injury of the victim.
Immigration officials first encountered Mejia in May 2013 after he unlawfully entered the United States at an unknown date and location without inspection or parole. U.S. Border Patrol issued a notice to appear and released him on his own recognizance, pending immigration proceedings.
"The extradition and arrest of this criminal alien is the culmination of a nearly decade-long battle for justice for Sarah Root and her family," Noem said in a statement. "Thanks to the hard work of our Homeland Security Investigation and our interagency law enforcement partners, Eswin Mejia, who fled the US to evade prosecution, will finally face justice for the killing of Sarah Root. Sarah should still be here today, and this illegal alien should have never been in our country in the first place."
Noem also praised the work of Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who has been advocating for Sarah and her family. "[H]er efforts and leadership were crucial in Mejia's extradition," Noem noted. In response, Ernst said, "The Trump administration never forgot Sarah Root's story."
"President Trump has never forgotten or stopped fighting for justice after Sarah Root was tragically murdered in 2016 by an illegal alien who was driving under the influence and became a fugitive from justice," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a separate statement.
Noem added that Trump is "putting the safety of Americans first—no longer will murderers and criminal illegal aliens be released into American communities."
House Republicans are also weighing in. "President Trump and Secretary Rubio are showing that if you harm an American citizen there is no place you can run and hide," the GOP-led House Foreign Affairs Committee said on social media. "No matter how long it takes, we will hunt you down and get justice."
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