On the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) asked for unanimous consent for Kate’s Law, a bill he introduced after 32-year-old Kate Steinle was murdered by an illegal immigrant who had been deported numerous times. The legislation would place a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for any undocumented immigrant who reenters the country illegally.
Cruz noted that Americans are on his side on this issue, as indicated by recent polling. The senator also pointed to Tuesday's sheriff election in San Francisco, in which voters booted pro-sanctuary city Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi from office. “Even in the bluest of blue states, Americans are tired of politicians standing with criminal illegal aliens,” Cruz said.
After Cruz’s emotional speech, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid immediately voiced his objection to the legislation, arguing it would require a burdensome amount of spending.
That’s when Cruz went off on the senator. Reid objects to Kate’s Law because it would “cost too much,” Cruz said. “We need to spend the money to lock up murderers…It’s cheaper to lose our sons and daughters.”
Reid’s argument highlights “the cynicism of the modern Democratic party,” he added, noting it’s shameful that Democrats would rather side with “violent, felon illegal immigrants” than law-abiding American citizens.
It is unfortunate that Democrats are willing to spend money on Big Government entitlement programs and an unpopular and failing nationalized health care program, but when it comes to Americans’ safety, they look the other way.