WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is pushing to make it easier to designate noncitizens as potential flight risks or dangers to the community in order to detain and arrest those who commit crimes as they await trial.
Lee introduced the Flight Risk Reduction Act on Wednesday, pushing to include noncitizens and unlawful permanent residents to the list of persons eligible for consideration “as serious flight risks for the purposes of detention.” The bill comes after a rideshare driver was arrested in Salt Lake County on Tuesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a passenger inside his vehicle.
“Criminal suspects who are foreign citizens — especially illegal aliens — should automatically be considered greater flight risks, because they have greater means and incentive to flee to other countries,” Lee said in a statement to the Deseret News.
Julio Arroyo Mendoza, 39, was arrested this week and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail as he is investigated for sexual assault and rape charges, according to KSL.com. Mendoza was allegedly picking up an Uber passenger and was supposed to drive the 23-year-old University of Utah student to the Research Park area.
During the drive, Mendoza stopped the vehicle and got into the back seat with the passenger and “began to tell her that he loved her,” according to the affidavit. Then he sexually assaulted her, the documents state.
The woman then exited the vehicle and called a friend to pick her up, according to police. After that, her friend drove her to the nearby Huntsman Mental Health Institute, where she reported the incident.
During the investigation, Mendoza told police he had plans to return to Peru “where he is from,” the affidavit states. Lee specifically pointed to that detail as justification for his bill.
“There are too many stories across America of non-citizens being released on their own recognizance, never to return,” Lee said. “The recent attack in Utah sadly demonstrates the need for vigilance.”