I am pleased to be speaking today about an extremely important piece of legislation that my good friend. Representative SUE MYRICK. and I are introducing. The Scott Gardner Act strengthens our national immigration laws and preserves our public safety. On July 16. 2005. 33yearold husband and father. Scott Gardner. was killed by a drunk driver while his family was driving to the beach located in my congressional district. His wife was critically injured and his two children were robbed of their father for the rest of their lives. The drunk driver was a repeat offender and an illegal immigrant. an individual who should never have been in this country in the first place. This tragedy was completely preventable. but our broken borders allowed an illegal immigrant with four prior drunk driving charges to remain in the United States. This situation must change so that we never lose another life to a criminal who doesnt deserve rightfully to be in our country. This act. the Scott Gardner Act. would ensure that DWI is grounds for mandatory detention and deportation of illegal aliens. It would improve communications between Federal. State and local agencies. And it would allow those agencies and law enforcement to collect immigration information in the course of their normal duties.
Identified stereotypes
Associating all undocumented immigrants with criminal behavior (drunk driving).