Goodlatte: Obama Administration Made Detaining Illegals ‘Voluntary’

On Sunday, Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte reacted on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” to the Wednesday killing of 31-year-old Kathryn Steinle at Pier 14 in San Francisco, California, allegedly by an illegal with seven felonies and five deportations.

Goodlatte first questioned why the alleged Mexican murderer had not been prosecuted before for his previous crimes — and why San Francisco had released him back onto the streets. He then said that the Obama administration is not enforcing immigration laws and if they were, they could have potentially kept Steinle alive.

“The policy regarding detainers, which is a law of the United States, was enforced by the Bush administration as being mandatory,” Goodlatte said. “The Obama administration has converted that into something voluntary, and in doing so, they have eliminated a program that was working, called ‘Secure Communities’ where individuals like this would be detained and turned over to the immigration services. Now, in addition to that, this administration is releasing criminals back on the streets themselves, so, there’s fault to be borne by both. The fact of the matter is, the laws need to be enforced.”