http://www.charlotte.com/217/story/39711.html

HOUSE PASSED GARDNER ACT IN 2005
Myrick to revive immigration DWI bill
Under plan, those in U.S. illegally would be deported if convicted
GARY L. WRIGHT
gwright@charlotteobserver.com

U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., intends to reintroduce legislation to crack down on illegal immigrants convicted of drinking and driving.

Myrick has scheduled a news conference Monday in Charlotte to announce she will reintroduce the Scott Gardner Act, which calls for the automatic deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of driving while impaired.

Joining Myrick at the news conference will be family members of Leeanna Newman of Salisbury and Scott Gardner of Gaston County.

Newman, 20, and her unborn baby were killed in February when a man police were pursuing in Landis crashed into her car, authorities say. Carlos Alfonso Guillen Martinez, a 33-year-old illegal immigrant, has been charged with second-degree murder and DWI.

The Scott Gardner Act is named after Scott Gardner, a 33-year-old Mount Holly teacher killed in 2005 in a wreck by an illegal immigrant who had five previous DWI charges.

Ramiro Gallegos had an alcohol level of 0.22, nearly three times the legal limit, when the truck he was driving struck Gardner's station wagon in Brunswick County. Gardner's wife, Tina, was critically injured. The couple were taking their two young children on a family vacation to Sunset Beach.

Gallegos, 27, will have to serve up to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Myrick's spokesman, Andy Polk, said the original Scott Gardner bill passed as an amendment to the House immigration bill in 2005, but because the Senate never addressed the proposed legislation, the bill must now be reintroduced