Democrats propose legislation to allow prosecution of illegal immigrant drivers

Democratic State Assembly candidates Bill Brown and Debbie Sarcone today unveiled legislation that would increase the penalties faced by individuals who cause a motor vehicle accident when they are in the United States illegally – and to extend the penalties to punish those who allow illegal drivers to operate motor vehicles.

Brown and Sarcone, who are running for seats in the Eighth Legislative District, said the legislation is in response to the tragic motor vehicle accident this past April that took the life of a popular Evesham Township school teacher, and the subsequent inability of law enforcement officials to fully prosecute those charged for their actions.

“My town lost a star in a senseless motor vehicle accident,” said Sarcone, former Evesham Deputy Mayor. “I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the children of DeMasi Middle School and the thousands of residents who still mourn our loss. I want to ensure that New Jersey’s laws not only punish those who caused this accident but also work to prevent accidents like this in the future. I do not want to see another community suffer the loss mine did.”

On April 8, Amy Voorhees, a teacher at Evesham’s DeMasi Middle School, was killed in a motor vehicle accident on state Route 70. The two men charged in the crash are in the United States illegally.

“We are a nation of laws, freedom and responsibility,” said Brown, an Iraq War veteran and retired U.S. Navy SEAL. “Our lawmakers must ensure that those who violate our laws are held responsible. The blame in this accident extends beyond the individuals who drove illegally; it also falls on those who gave them the means and the motive to violate the law.”

With the State Legislature now in recess until after the November election, Brown and Sarcone are committed to making this the first piece of legislation they introduce when they take office in January 2010.

Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi announced yesterday that a grand jury had declined to indict illegal immigrant Jose Luis Galindo-Sanchez, 26, of Camden, in relation to the crash that killed Voorhees. He had been charged with vehicular homicide, hindering apprehension, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

Bernardi said the grand jury felt there was insufficient evidence to show Galindo-Sanchez acted “recklessly,” something the state must prove to successfully prosecute a vehicular homicide case.

Galindo-Sanchez’ brother, Lucio Garcia-Sanchez, 19, also of Camden and also in the country illegally, had been charged as a material witness in the case.

As a result of the no bill handed up by the grand jury, the Garcia-Sanchez brothers will face judgment only in Evesham Municipal Court. A date has not yet been set for that hearing.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed detainers on both men, who are being held in the Burlington County Jail.

The substance of the legislation proposed by Brown and Sarcone is as follows:

1)      -- Automatically escalates the degree of felony that can be applied to the most serious charge levied upon an operator of a motor vehicle if the operator of the motor vehicle has never been lawfully issued a driver’s license at any time in the United States.

2) – Makes it a felony in the third degree to cause an accident if the operator of the motor vehicle:

            -- Never has been lawfully issued a driver’s license in the United States and operates a motor vehicle.

            -- While operating the motor vehicle, the driver causes an accident that causes serious bodily harm to another driver.

            -- If, at the time of the motor vehicle accident, the driver of the vehicle is residing in the United States illegally.

“If someone is not in this country legitimately and they get behind the wheel of a car, they already have committed a litany of crimes,” Brown said. “These include operating a motor vehicle without a license, driving without insurance and violating our immigration policy.  We must ensure laws are available to properly punish such individuals, not just give them a slap on the wrist in Municipal Court.”

“We must ensure that accidents like the one that happened here in Evesham are not treated as ordinary occurrences,” Sarcone said. “I cannot fathom a case like this being remanded to Municipal Court just because the laws are not strict enough to demand a zealous prosecution.”

PART II: Pertaining to individuals, companies, or corporations who employ individuals who are in this country illegally and operate motor vehicles:

1)      – Makes the individual, company or corporation that employ individuals who are in the United States illegally guilty of a third degree felony when that illegal individual drives a car that causes a serious motor vehicle accident.

2)      – Holds the individual, company or corporation that employs individuals who are in the United States illegally as negligent if that individual causes a motor vehicle accident.

This part of the proposed legislation is modeled after the laws that holds bar and tavern owners responsible for patrons who drink excessively and then cause a motor vehicle accident. Both Brown and Sarcone believe there are several parallels in both instances.

“We have done an effective job of holding bars and taverns accountable when one of their patrons causes an automobile accident,” said Brown.  “We must hold the same standard when someone gives an individual motive to drive a vehicle they have no business driving.”

“Just as it is illegal to serve a patron an alcoholic beverage if they are intoxicated – it is illegal to employ individuals who are in this country illegally,” said Sarcone. “Just as tavern owners are responsible for the actions when they violate the law so should an employer who illegally employs someone.”

PART III: Pertaining to an individual or company that gives an unlicensed driver a vehicle:

1)      – Makes the individual, company or corporation that gives access to a motor vehicle to an unlicensed driver guilty of a felony in the third degree.

2)      – Holds the individual, company or corporation that gives an unlicensed driver access to a motor vehicle, negligent if that individual causes a motor vehicle accident.

“We must stop crimes at the source whenever possible. Driving a vehicle is a privilege that takes training and drivers must demonstrate their competence by passing a test,” Sarcone said. “When someone gives access to a vehicle to someone who commits a crime – they are an accessory to that crime.”

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