Joni Ernst

For the last four years, we saw our southern border turned into a glorified turnstile with a record flood of illegal immigrants and drug trafficking by murderous cartels.

Iowans are unfortunately all too familiar with the dangers of open borders.

In 2016, as Iowan Sarah Root drove home from a college graduation party, she was struck and killed by an illegal immigrant driving drunk. Before her family could even lay Sarah to rest, her killer was released on bail and fled to Honduras.

Like most Iowans, I was heartbroken for Sarah’s family and outraged that the system had failed to deliver justice. For the last decade, I led the fight in Washington to pass my Sarah’s Law to close the loophole that allowed her killer, Edwin Mejia, to escape.

Unfortunately, my efforts fell on deaf ears in the Biden administration and Democrat-controlled Senate. The Biden administration even took Mejia off the most wanted list, essentially giving up on pursuing him and delivering justice to the Root family.

That all changed when Donald Trump returned to the White House and Republicans regained control of the Senate.

Earlier this year, I proudly shepherded Sarah’s Law through Congress to become the law of the land when it was part of the first law President Donald Trump signed this year. Now, any illegal immigrant who seriously injures an American will be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

After years of inaction by the Biden administration, the Trump administration quickly located Edwin Mejia in Honduras and secured a deal to extradite him to America to face justice.

Last week, during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem assured me that, in the Trump administration, Sarah’s story did not fall on deaf ears. Secretary Noem detailed that, in addition to delivering justice to the Root family, this deal set a precedent as the first homicide extradition by Honduras and established an important relationship between our two nations going forward.

I thanked Secretary Noem for her work to finally carry out justice, and she also shared more ways the Trump administration is reversing course from the disastrous Biden years and putting Iowans first.

In addition to securing the southern border, the administration is also securing the integrity of our elections.

After a highly concerning report last fall that over 2,000 Iowa voters were non-citizens, I demanded answers from the Biden administration to ensure that only Americans are allowed to vote in our elections. It’s just common sense, folks!

Thankfully, Secretary Noem assured me that, after the Biden administration refused to act, the Trump administration is building upon my work to ensure that illegal immigrants are not able to vote in our elections. With DOGE, the Department of Homeland Security created a single database to verify the citizenship of voters in every state and launched a pilot program allowing states to quickly and efficiently clean up voter rolls for secure elections.

I am proud to lead this return to common sense in Washington.

The days of radical, leftwing policies have been replaced by secure borders, secure elections, and prioritizing the safety and security of U.S. citizens.

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Republican Joni Ernst, a native of Red Oak and a combat veteran, represents Iowa in the United States Senate.