[House Hearing, 118 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE BIDEN HARRIS BORDER CRISIS:
VICTIM PERSPECTIVES
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2024
__________
Serial No. 118-95
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via: http://judiciary.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
56-704 WASHINGTON : 2024
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Chair
DARRELL ISSA, California JERROLD NADLER, New York, Ranking
MATT GAETZ, Florida Member
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona ZOE LOFGREN, California
TOM McCLINTOCK, California STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
TOM TIFFANY, Wisconsin HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky Georgia
CHIP ROY, Texas ADAM SCHIFF, California
DAN BISHOP, North Carolina ERIC SWALWELL, California
VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana TED LIEU, California
SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington
CLIFF BENTZ, Oregon J. LUIS CORREA, California
BEN CLINE, Virginia MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania
KELLY ARMSTRONG, North Dakota JOE NEGUSE, Colorado
LANCE GOODEN, Texas LUCY McBATH, Georgia
JEFF VAN DREW, New Jersey MADELEINE DEAN, Pennsylvania
TROY NEHLS, Texas VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
BARRY MOORE, Alabama DEBORAH ROSS, North Carolina
KEVIN KILEY, California CORI BUSH, Missouri
HARRIET HAGEMAN, Wyoming GLENN IVEY, Maryland
NATHANIEL MORAN, Texas BECCA BALINT, Vermont
LAUREL LEE, Florida Vacancy
WESLEY HUNT, Texas
RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina
MICHAEL A. RULLI, Ohio
CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Majority Staff Director
AARON HILLER, Minority Staff Director & Chief of Staff
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C O N T E N T S
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Tuesday, September 10, 2024
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
The Honorable Jim Jordan, Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary
from the State of Ohio......................................... 1
The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member of the Committee on
the Judiciary from the State of New York....................... 3
WITNESSES
Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, Tulare County, California
Oral Testimony................................................. 6
Prepared Testimony............................................. 8
Tammy Nobles, Mother of Kayla Hamilton, Victim of Criminal
Illegal Alien
Oral Testimony................................................. 14
Prepared Testimony............................................. 16
Cecilia Farfan-Mendez, Institute on Global Conflict and
Cooperation, University of California San Diego
Oral Testimony................................................. 18
Prepared Testimony............................................. 20
Melissa M. Lopez, Executive Director, Estrella del Passo
Oral Testimony................................................. 28
Prepared Testimony............................................. 30
April Aguirre, Crime Victims' Advocate
Oral Testimony................................................. 34
Prepared Testimony............................................. 36
Anne Fundner, Mother of Weston Fundner, Victim of Fentanyl
Poisoning
Oral Testimony................................................. 40
Prepared Testimony............................................. 43
Patricia Morin, Mother of Rachel Morin, Victim of Criminal
Illegal Alien
Oral Testimony................................................. 47
Prepared Testimony............................................. 49
Alexis J. Nungaray, Mother of Jocelyn Nungaray, Victim of
Criminal Illegal Alien
Oral Testimony................................................. 52
Prepared Testimony............................................. 55
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC. SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
All materials submitted for the record by the Committee on the
Judiciary are listed below..................................... 100
A report entitled, ``America Invaded: How the Biden-Harris Border
Crisis is Fundamentally Transforming the United States,'' Sept.
2024, Chip Roy, submitted by the Honorable Chip Roy, a Member
of the Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Texas, for
the record
A statement from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC),
Sept. 10, 2024, submitted by the Honorable Jerrold Nadler,
Ranking Member of the Committee on the Judiciary from the State
of New York, for the record
THE BIDEN-HARRIS BORDER CRISIS:
VICTIM PERSPECTIVES
----------
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary
Washington, DC
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:14 a.m., in
Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, the Hon. Jim Jordan
[Chair of the Committee] presiding.
Members present: Representatives Jordan, Issa, Biggs,
McClintock, Tiffany, Massie, Roy, Bishop, Spartz, Fitzgerald,
Bentz, Cline, Armstrong, Van Drew, Nehls, Kiley, Hageman, Hunt,
Fry, Rulli, Nadler, Swalwell, Correa, Dean, Escobar, Ross,
Ivey, and Balint.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will come to order. Without
objection the Chair is authorized to call for a recess at any
time. We welcome everyone to today's hearing on victims'
perspectives on the Biden-Harris border crisis.
The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Texas to lead
us all in the Pledge of Allegiance. So, please rise.
All. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States
of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one
Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
all.
Chair Jordan. The Chair will now recognize himself for an
opening statement. On day one, the Biden-Harris Administration
made three changes that led to the unprecedented situation we
have seen in our country. On day one, they decided no more
building the wall, no more Remain in Mexico while we evaluate
your asylum claim, and once you get here, you will not be
detained. You will be released into the country. As a result of
that, ten million migrants have come into the country, 99 on
the terrorist watch list. We have lost track; they have lost
track of hundreds of thousands of young people who came into
the country. Because of all those decisions made again,
deliberately, intentionally, in a premeditated way, on day one
of this administration all kinds of terrible things have
happened, all kinds of terrible things. Jocelyn Nungaray, Noah
Rodriguez, Kayla Hamilton, Weston Fundner, Rachel Morin, Lakin
Riley, Maria Gonzalez, Sam Fagan, and Gabriel Fagan, each one
of these individuals were someone's child. Each one had a
promising life, a promising life ahead of them. Each one had
people in their lives who loved and cared for them, each one.
Each one is a victim of the Biden-Harris open border policies.
Jocelyn and Maria, not yet even teenagers, were brutally
assaulted and murdered by illegal aliens who were released into
the country by this administration. Kayla and Lakin, young
women pursuing their dreams were brutally assaulted and
murdered by illegal aliens who this administration released
into this country. Rachel Morin, a mom of five young children,
was brutally assaulted and murdered by an illegal alien
welcomed into this country by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Noah
Rodriguez, Sam Fagan, Gabriel Fagan, and Weston Fundner,
teenagers and young men with bright futures were poisoned by
fentanyl that this administration refused to stop from falling
across our Southern border. You may have heard these names and
stories and those of countless other victims of criminal
illegal aliens, but not from Kamala Harris. Last week, a
teenager in Manassas, Virginia was allegedly kidnaped by an
illegal alien, reportedly released into the country, again, by
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' Administration.
In January, two New York City police officers were
assaulted by a group of illegal aliens who entered the country
thanks to this administration's open border policy. In May
2023, a teenage girl in Alabama was viciously assaulted in a
restaurant bathroom by an illegal alien with a violent arrest
record in his home country. He was able to enter the country as
a quote, ``got-away'' because of this administration's policies
that ensure border patrol agents are too busy processing
illegal aliens to actually patrol the border and do their job.
Last February, a Nassau County New York man was the victim
of a brutal antisemitic attack by the hands of an illegal alien
that this administration released into the country.
I can keep listing these stories. This is what happens when
you have an administration that doesn't care about border
security that prioritizes aliens over Americans and legal
immigrants and that refuses to enforce immigration law in the
interior of the country. I am sure that we will hear a lot of
excuses from my Democrat colleagues today. We will hear how the
illegal border crossings have decreased. Of course, we all know
that the Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are flying illegal aliens
right now into the U.S. interior. We will hear that tired and
flawed argument that natives commit more crimes than
immigrants. Even if that was true, would it matter to Rachel's
family, Kayla's mom, or Jocelyn's mom, or Weston's family? The
truth is that in every crime I have discussed, everyone
committed by an illegal alien was preventable if only we had an
administration that did their job. Unfortunately, we don't. We
have a Democrat Presidential Candidate who for years advocated
for open borders. She was appointed the border czar, yet
presided over the largest mass, illegal immigration in U.S.
history. She has called for ICE to be abolished. She has
laughed off questions about border security. She has promoted
amnesty. She has said that ``an undocumented immigrant is not a
criminal.''
Thanks to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, we are on track to
get to 12 million illegal aliens in the United States in the
four-year administration--12 million. I always tell folks, that
is the equivalent of the entire population of our State, the
State of Ohio, seventh largest State in the union. That is not
even counting the 1.9 million known got-aways who evaded Border
Patrol or the unknown number of got-aways who have not even
been detected. American communities are left to suffer the
consequences. We are going to hear from people who suffered it
in a direct way today.
With that, I would yield to the Ranking Member for his
opening statement.
Mr. Nadler. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, before I
start, I would like to take a moment and express my sincerest
condolences to all our witnesses who have lost loved ones and
to all their families. I cannot imagine how difficult this has
been for you, and I appreciate your being here to share their
stories. May their memories be a blessing.
Unfortunately, instead of working in a bipartisan fashion
to find meaningful solutions to our broken immigration system,
we are sitting in yet one more partisan hearing designed to
divide us and to score political points before an election. In
fact, one of our Republican colleagues said the quiet part loud
last week when he said in this season ``these are messaging
hearings that we have been doing.''
We have only eight weeks until election day and our
Republican colleagues are trying to do everything, they can
blame Vice President Harris for what they now call the Biden-
Harris border crisis. They label her the border czar and the
leader of the administration's border policy even though they
know that is not and never was the case. Let's be clear. Vice
President Harris was never in charge of immigration police with
the Biden Administration and was certainly not the border czar.
That position does not exist, so of course, she could not have
been appointed to it. Our Republican colleagues know this, of
course, but have never let the facts get in the way of their
messaging.
The truth is that President Biden directed Vice President
Harris to address the root causes of migration from Mexico and
the Northern Triangle. In that role, she generated over $5
billion in public and private investments and created
opportunities in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. That
investment has paid major dividends. Between Fiscal Years 2021
and 2023, Border Patrol apprehensions from migrants from those
countries dropped by nearly 50 percent. That is because
immigration is impacted by factors beyond one country's
policies. People do not leave their lives and homes beyond on a
whim. The people crossing our border immigrate because life has
become unsustainable in their home countries, because of
factors like persecution, or economic, food, or political
insecurity. By investing in other countries, we help ensure
that people can build a better life for themselves without
having to seek security elsewhere. These investments have
contributed to the lowest levels of unauthorized crossings in
four years. You would not know any of that from seeing my
colleagues do their press hits on NewsMax or from what we have
heard today.
In today's hearing, we are going to hear from family
members who have lost a loved one from fentanyl poisoning or as
a result of a crime committed by someone who entered the
country over the last four years. There is a verse in the Torah
that hangs in my office, ``tzedek, tzedek, tirdof,'' ``justice,
justice shalt thou pursue.'' The families here today want
justice for their loved ones. They want to ensure that no other
family has to suffer the pain of what they have gone through.
These are noble goals. The heinous crimes these families have
suffered should be universally condemned. The perpetrators
should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of our laws and then
they should be removed from the country. This is not a story
that began four years ago. Tragically, the same story could be
told of any President, former President Trump's Administration
released undocumented immigrants who went on to commit crimes.
Now, do I blame President Trump for those crimes? Of course
not. He has his own crimes to worry about. As I have said to
all Congress, no President has ever had the resources to detain
every individual that crosses the border without authorization.
Our immigration system is broken, and it will take a
substantial bipartisan effort to fix it. We need more judges
and asylum officers so migrants can have their asylum cases
heard in a matter of weeks, not years, so we can stop so-called
catch and release.
We need to expand lawful pathways to migration, as the
Biden-Harris Administration has been trying to do, so people
can come to the United States after they are vetted in an
orderly and safe manner. We need to look at immigration in a
holistic manner to see the benefits that immigrants bring to
this country and not focus only on the negatives. Immigrants'
contributions have helped ensure that we came out of the
pandemic stronger than any other advanced economy. A
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that recent
immigrants will cut the deficit by $900 billion and add
revenues of $1.2 trillion over the next decade. Immigrants make
essential contributions to our society, our economy, and our
character as a country, and they do so despite an immigration
system that has been profoundly broken for decades. My
Republican colleagues have shown they do not have an interest
in fixing the system so that we may take advantage of the
remarkable contributions that immigrants make to our country
while keeping out those who would do us harm. Instead, they
would rather blame Democrats and push unworkable solutions.
Republicans spent a year saying that their dream bill, H.R.
2, is the only way to secure the border, even though they know
that it can't become law having failed twice to pass the Senate
receiving just 32 votes earlier this Congress, in a Senate I
would note with 49 Republicans. Then, they insisted that the
price of helping protect Ukraine against Russian aggression was
enacting harsh border enforcement legislation. Senate
Republicans even managed to find bipartisan support for border
bill in the Senate, a bill that Minority Leader McConnell
called the toughest border bill in 30 years, but Republicans
could not take yes for an answer. Donald Trump said that he did
not want to do anything that might help with the border in an
election year because he wants immigration as a campaign issue.
Other Republicans said it out loud, too, saying that they don't
want to ``do too damn much to help a Democrat.''
Republicans showed clearly what Democrats have been saying
over and over again, that they don't want to do anything that
would help address the immigration system. They clearly have
given up. They just want the demagogue. I wish that was not the
case. Vice President Harris has made it clear we need a
reformed immigration system with robust lawful pathways to
citizenship, strong security and controls at our border, and a
modern approach to a global issue that has been neglected for
far too long. Democrats stand ready to work on real solutions
to these problems. I only wish we had a willing partner. I look
forward to hearing from our witnesses today and I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. Without objection,
all other opening statements will be included in the record.
Today's witnesses, we start with the Hon. Mike Boudreaux.
Sounds like that he got roots in Louisiana with that last name.
Sheriff Boudreaux is a life-long resident of Tulare County,
California, a place I have been. His 38-year career in the
Sheriff's Department began as a Sheriff Deputy when he was 19
years old. He has served as Sheriff since 2013. Sheriff
Boudreaux holds a certificate of criminology and administration
of justice, an Associates of Science degree in Administration
of Justice, a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and
Management, and a Master's degree with course study in the
Administration of Justice and Organizational Development.
Sheriff, we welcome you today.
Ms. April Aguirre began her crime victim advocacy in
Houston, Texas after her nine-year-old niece was shot and
killed while riding in a car with her parents. She is a veteran
of the United States Air Force where she trained as a nurse.
She has an Associate's degree in criminal justice from Houston
Community College and a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice
from the University of Houston. We appreciate you being with us
today.
Ms. Tammy Nobles is a realtor from Norfolk, Virginia. She
volunteers part-time as President of the Downs Syndrome
Association of Hampton Roads, and is a mother of Kayla
Hamilton, a victim of a criminal illegal alien and we
appreciate you and sympathize with your loss.
Ms. Patricia Morin, a mother of six, including Rachel who
was the victim of a criminal illegal alien, stay at home mom
for 25 years, home schooled her children. She returned to the
workforce after her oldest child graduated from high school and
worked in the mortgage banking industry in retail management
until she retired. She currently works part-time as an Office
Administrator of her church and resides in Maryland, and we
appreciate you being with us as well.
Ms. Anne Fundner is a wife and mother of four whose 15-
year-old son Weston was poisoned by fentanyl. Since then, she
has spoken publicly about her son's death to promote change and
educate American families about the consequences of the
fentanyl crisis. We appreciate you being with us as well.
Ms. Alex Nungaray is a resident of Houston, Texas, and is
the mother of Jocelyn, a victim of criminal illegal aliens.
Dr. Cecilia Farfan-Mendez is a researcher with the
Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation at UC-San Diego
and the Center for Studies on Security, Intelligence, and
Governance at the Institute of Technology de Mexico. Her
research and work focus on organized crime, female
participation in criminal groups, and U.S.-Mexico security
cooperation.
Finally, Ms. Melissa Lopez. We will now yield to the
gentlelady from Texas to introduce a witness from her district.
Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is my pleasure to
introduce a fellow El Pasoan to the Committee this morning.
Melissa Lopez who is doing vital work as the Executive Director
of the Estrella del Paso organization. Estella del Paso is the
largest legal services provider in our region. They assist
asylum seekers, victims of trafficking, and migrants who have
faced a host of dangerous and life-threatening situations. Over
a career spanning 17 years providing legal services for
immigrants, Melissa has met countless immigrants and
experienced firsthand just how many people come to the United
States to pursue a better life for themselves and their
families.
Ms. Lopez, thank you for all your work and welcome.
Chair Jordan. Thank you. The gentlelady yields back. We
welcome our witnesses and thank them for appearing today. We
will begin by swearing you in. Would you all please rise and
raise your right hand?
Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the
testimony you are about to give is true, correct, and to the
test of your knowledge, information, and belief so help you
God?
Let the record show that each of the witnesses answered in
the affirmative. Thank you. You can be seated. Please know that
your written testimony will be entered into the record in its
entirety. Accordingly, we ask that you summarize your testimony
in five minutes. We are going to go right down the line, and we
will have to break in about 35 minutes. There is an important
ceremony taking place over in the Capitol for the families of
folks who were killed in Afghanistan three years ago and the
Members want to be there. We will take a break, and we will
have some food for you, but we are going to start with the
Sheriff and then move right now the line. So, Sheriff
Boudreaux, you are recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF SHERIFF MIKE BOUDREAUX
Sheriff Boudreaux. Chair Jordan and Ranking Member Nadler,
and distinguished Members of the Committee, my name is Mike
Boudreaux. I am the Sheriff of Tulare County in California.
Tulare County sits in the heart of California, right in the
center. We are a very large agricultural community.
I have spent 38 years in law enforcement working in the
Sheriff's Office and working with victims throughout my career.
I am also an FBI National Academy graduate in Class 251 where I
have law enforcement leaders from all over the country and, as
well, all over the world who I have connections with.
When it comes to the dangerous and sometimes deadly impacts
of what I feel is a failed Biden-Harris Administration on open
border policies, the impacts of illegal immigration in
California, I must say that I have a front-row seat. I also
serve as the California State Sheriffs' Association President
where I meet regularly with all other 57 sheriffs, there is 58,
me being number 5-8, in the State of California hearing their
stories.
There are a few examples that I would like to be able to
provide today. We have a long issue of illegal immigration in
California, however, over the last three years of the Biden-
Harris Administration, we have a deadly impact of violent
criminals coming into our communities. We have migrant
communities of farm workers who are now infiltrated and
terrorized by those that they have fled other countries from,
who are now in our communities terrorizing them, threatening
their children to be involved in drug trafficking, gun running,
drug dealing, as well as gangs, and sexual activity of
children. I am very involved with these migrant communities as
the sheriff, and I can tell you the personal stories and
impacts are heart wrenching.
Many of these communities have to do what is called paying
rent. You must give money to the drug lord or the gang member
or the violent criminal of those that you fled if you want to
live peacefully within that migrant community. I am very
familiar with Kamala Harris as the Senator and Attorney General
in California and I can tell you that the words that she has
often spoken when it comes to defunding the police and ICE,
akin to the KKK, is demoralizing to law enforcement and those
trying to protect our country and protect victims here in
California and the United States.
I have, as the President, walked the border, and over the
course of the 38 years as Sheriff, I have visited the border
many times and I have many friends in the Border Patrol, as
well as Homeland Security, and I can tell you that they are
frustrated. Thousands of people coming through a day where I
visited, and I saw people from Yemen and China coming through.
In our town, we had a friend of mine Jody Jones, his brother
was shot and killed at an AMPM minimart where an illegal
immigrant who had been deported three times over found his way
back into the United States, attempted a robbery, and shot and
killed a man. My deputies got into a pursuit and got into a
violent shootout with this man.
We have a case where that is called the Reign of Terror. I
can tell you as the Attorney General Kamala Harris often
lessened the impact of law enforcement with her quotes of
``defunding the police.'' I have story after story, but most
recently what we are starting to see is an influx of Mandarin
or those from China. We are unraveling a human trafficking case
of over 40 women who are involved in sexual prostitution up and
down the State of California, who have found their way across
the border and are here illegally and that case is ongoing.
We have financial crimes from Mandarin, thieves from China,
who are stealing millions of dollars online from our elderly in
the Central Valley and up and down the State of California. We
had an illegal immigrant, El Mano Negro, he was a hired hand by
the cartel, where we arrested and finally, he admitted to
killing and assassinating over 25 people in our county at the
hands of the cartel. We just unraveled a cartel in our county,
dismantling that cartel. The people in that cartel that we
arrested openly admitted that within the last three years it is
easier now to move human beings, drugs, guns, and fentanyl most
specifically, across the border and that is it easier now than
in the history of their cartel. I can tell you because of the
Biden and Harris Administration law enforcement resources are
quickly depleted. We have victim after victim that we see as
you will hear today and that these stories are not unfamiliar
to law enforcement up and down the State of California.
So, with that, I will conclude and turn it back over to
you, Mr. Chair.
[The prepared statement of Sheriff Boudreaux follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you, Sheriff. Ms. Nobles, you are
recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF TAMMY NOBLES
Ms. Nobles. Good morning to the Members of the Committee.
Thank you for allowing me to speak. On July 27, 2022, I
received the worst news that a parent can ever get that my
newly 20-year-old daughter, Kayla Hamilton, was found deceased
with injuries consistent with homicide. There are no words that
describe the heart-wrenching, soul-crushing pain of losing your
child so horrifically. Kayla was a happy and loving person. She
loved life and God. She was extremely ambitious and despite
having autism, she was determined to make her way in this
world. She loved animals, especially her cat, Oreo, and cared
about the homeless.
At first, we knew very little details of the murder until
an arrest. At the end of March 2022, Walter Javier Martinez was
apprehended by Border Patrol crossing illegally into the U.S.
Martinez stated that he was 16 years old and fear of gang
activity in his country in El Salvador. As an unoccupied alien
child, Martinez was granted access into the United States with
no background checks or vetting. Homeland Security did not
verify the sponsor and allowed Martinez to go live in
Frederick, Maryland. There were behavior issues with him living
with his sponsor and he ended up staying with his half-brother
who lived in the same neighborhood mobile park as Kayla. There
were behavior issues with Walter, so the half-brother called
the property manager owners of the mobile home park which I
thought was a legit company. We learned that an illegal
immigrant couple owned the mobile homes, and it took it on
themselves to allow this 16-year-old to rent a room in the same
mobile home as Kayla. Martinez was living there less than five
days before he violently and brutally murdered my daughter.
Walter Javiar Martinez broke into Kayla's room while she was
sleeping that morning. Kayla left a voice mail on her
boyfriend's phone. According to the voice mail a struggle was
going on and Kayla can be heard crying, groaning, and
struggling to breathe. Martinez can be heard on the voice mail
hushing her and near the end telling her I am sorry in Spanish
while strangling with her phone charging cord. After she was
deceased, Martinez tied her up and sexually assaulted her. This
was confirmed by the anal swabs that matched Martinez' DNA.
Kayla fought for her life that day. She had bruises up and down
her arms, her fingers, the left side of her face, her back, and
down her leg, and deep wounds to the neck from the charging
cord.
Local police knew right from the beginning he was the main
suspect just by their initial investigation. It took the
Aberdeen police to confirm that Martinez was a known gang
member of MS-13 and that Martinez had a criminal record in El
Salvador in 2020. If Homeland Security did a background check,
then they would have known this, and Martinez wouldn't have
been able to be on U.S. soil. With Martinez being 16 years old,
Maryland Child Protective Services took custody of Martinez
until the DNA results came back. The Aberdeen Police Department
was very transparent to CPS. The Aberdeen Police demanded that
Martinez be held in a secure location because he was a threat
to society based on the murder and injuries of Kayla Hamilton.
It was later learned that Child Protective Services placed
Martinez in a group home with other children and then placed
Martinez in a foster home which allowed him to be enrolled in
high school. This was also confirmed by an investigative
reporter with Fox 45 Project Baltimore, who got an actual
confirmation from Edgewood High School.
While in jail, a letter was intercepted that Martinez wrote
confessing to four murders and two rapes. Martinez ended up
pleading guilty and taken a plea deal of 70 years. Since he was
a juvenile at the time, even though he was tried as an adult,
Martinez couldn't get life without the possibility of parole.
This is not a political issue. This is a safety issue for
everyone here living in the United States. Not only was Kayla's
life put at risk and taken, so many other children and adults
were at risk.
The Biden-Harris Administration is not putting the American
citizens' safety first. The U.S. Government must secure our
border. We need to properly vet and background check all border
crossers. This isn't about immigration. This is about
protecting everyone here in the United States.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Nobles follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you, Ms. Nobles. Doctor.
STATEMENT OF CECILIA FARFAN-MENDEZ
Ms. Farfan-Mendez. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Chair Jordan,
Ranking Member Nadler, and the Members of the Committee, thank
you for conducting this hearing and the opportunity to explain
why characterizing the U.S.-Mexico as a region in crisis is an
inadequate and unproductive way to addressing North America's
cross border challenges. I appreciate the invitation to
participate.
I am an expert on organized crime and U.S.-Mexico security
cooperation. As a scholar of U.S.-Mexico relations, and as a
proud resident of the border region, I am convinced that
transnational problems require transnational solutions.
To the families testifying today, I want to acknowledge
your grief. There are no actions that can reverse the tragedies
that you have experienced. My testimony today does not seek to
invalidate yours, on the contrary. It is precisely because I
have witnessed and corroborated with families on both sides of
the border that have lost loved ones, that I here to offer what
I believe is a more constructive and sustainable path forward.
Chair Jordan. I apologize. We have got someone checking.
You can continue, Doctor.
Ms. Farfan-Mendez. The human costs of our shared tragedies
cannot be overstated. Today, Americans are more likely to die
from an opioid overdose than a car crash. Equally important,
homicide is the leading cause of death for men ages 15-44 and
the second cause of death for women ages 15-24 in Mexico.
Painfully, while families who have lost loved ones to overdoses
or homicides may find some degree of solace in visiting their
graves, this remains a dream for the thousands of family
members who search for the more than 110,000 Mexicans who have
disappeared.
North America is facing simultaneous and connected health
crises. Perhaps paradoxically, the silver lining is that there
is no secret solution awaiting to be discovered. Actions
available to Congress can contribute to stemming the
devastating effects of these public health challenges and can
be implemented through U.S.-Mexico cooperation. Even though the
border is characterized in Washington, DC, and Mexico City as a
perpetual crisis, for those of us who live and work in the
region, we know this is where the most creative and innovative
developments in the bilateral relationship take place. This is
not an overstatement.
Consider, for instance, the health challenges the world
faced with COVID-19. In a time of fear and uncertainty, where
countries closed borders, the governments of California and
Baja California, worked in partnership with public health
experts, academia, and the private sector, to engineer a cross-
border vaccination program, a program, I might add, that
actually benefited supply chains for the defense sector in the
U.S. as well. This type of proactive, collaborative ingenuity
rather than unilateral measures is what is most urgently
needed.
Today, I present to you an evidenced-based cultural action
from the border with these actions to start.
First, support the Stop Arming Cartels Act. Simply stated,
by failing to address firearms trafficking into Mexico the U.S.
is subsidizing the operating costs of criminal groups. It is as
if cartels receive an annual aid package with state-of-the-art
technology to carry out the crimes this Congress wants to stop.
Develop mutually accepted vetting mechanisms for exchanging
information. Best practices from other parts of the world show
that weakening the activities of organized crime requires
trusted partnerships across countries. As long as Mexico and
the U.S. lack these mutually accepted vetting mechanisms,
bilateral cooperation will be hindered.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is an important step
in addressing straw purchasing and trafficking. However,
successful implementation requires resources for prosecutors
and the ATF. The BSCA also provides an opportunity for seeking
meaningful cooperation with Mexican counterparts.
Second, provide funding and support research for improved
metrics of border security. In 2024, it is unacceptable that
the indicators of border security are detentions and seizures.
Recording how many people were stopped or how many drugs were
seized hardly builds a smart border. There is significant room
for improvement. These metrics should be developed in
partnership with civil society, the private sector, and
academia.
Finally, visit the border and its bi-national communities.
The border is not only a legal definition or a boundary between
two countries. Our shared problems, and their solutions do not
stop and start where the fence meets the ocean. There is no
substitute for first-hand experience.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Farfan-Mendez follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you, Doctor.
Ms. Lopez, you are recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF MELISSA LOPEZ
Ms. Lopez. Thank you. Good morning the Members of the
Committee. I'm grateful for this opportunity to appear before
you today.
My name is Melissa Lopez, and I am the Executive Director
of Estrella del Paso, formerly known as Diocesan Migrant and
Refugee Services. I'm an attorney who has spent my 17-year
career working with and representing immigrants in immigration
matters. Estrella del Paso is the largest provider of free
legal services in far West of Texas and New Mexico, serving
nearly 58,000 people in 2023.
In my experience, immigrants come to the United States to
contribute in positive ways. They make our communities more
vibrant by sharing their culture, language, and traditions.
I was born and raised in El Paso, the child of immigrants
from Mexico. Though born in Mexico, my parents are now
naturalized U.S. citizens and have spent more of their lives in
the United States than in Mexico.
I graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso in
2004, and then, attended the University of Texas School of Law
in Austin, graduating in 2007.
As much as I loved living in Austin, I knew that I would be
returning to El Paso after law school. I was blessed to be
hired at Estrella del Paso and the rest, as they say, is
history.
In my 17-year career, I have been blessed to work with
thousands of immigrants from all over the world. My experience
working with immigrants has taught me one special lesson: The
only difference between me and my clients is where we were
born. Had I been born just a few miles South of where I was in
the hospital in El Paso, I would be them. It has been my
experience that the people I am blessed to serve are simply
trying to provide for their families and ensure they are safe.
My mom always says that a parent's goal is to create a life
that allows their children to do better financially than their
parents did. I find this to be particularly true in my clients.
They walk well over 2,000 miles to ensure that their children
are safe, can thrive, and live a peaceful life where they can
achieve their dreams.
In truth, I'm a prime example of what children of
immigrants can do. I'm the first in my family to graduate
college. I'm the first in my family to obtain a professional
degree, and I'm the first in my family to become an attorney. I
am who I am because I have seen my mom work hard and fight
through adversity and have a grit that I wish I had just a
little bit more of.
I think one of the biggest blessings of my life is being
born and raised in El Paso. El Paso is a binational, bicultural
community in far West Texas that sits on the border between the
United States and Juarez, Chihuahua, and Mexico. El Paso is a
community rich in love and culture. El Paso is an immigrant
community. So many people are born in El Paso, but raised in
Juarez, or vice versa, as was the case for my parents.
El Paso is consistently ranked among the safest cities in
the country, surrounded only by Honolulu, Hawaii, a few years
here and there. El Paso is a safe city because we are an
immigrant community.
The worst crime committed against Hispanics in U.S. history
was a mass shooting that occurred in El Paso on August 3, 2019.
The perpetrator of that crime was a White supremacist born in
Dallas, Texas, who drove over 600 miles to massacre 23 people
and injure hundreds more at a Walmart in El Paso. He
systematically sought out immigrants due to the dangerous
rhetoric that all immigrants are bad.
After the shooting that killed both United States citizens,
as well as immigrants from Mexico and Germany, El Pasoans
wrapped our arms around the survivors, because that is who we
are. El Paso, very simply, is love.
We recognize, appreciate, and respect the humanity in every
single person. We treat people with the dignity they deserve,
because at the end of the day we all are human beings.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Lopez follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you.
Ms. Aguirre?
STATEMENT OF APRIL AGUIRRE
Ms. Aguirre. As a daughter of immigrant parents--
Chair Jordan. Ms. Aguirre, just hit the mic there, if you
could. Thank you.
Ms. Aguirre. As a daughter of immigrant parents, I am
ashamed of what the Biden-Harris Administration has done to our
country by opening our borders to all, including criminals who
are wolves in sheep's clothing.
Doctor, I heard you mention that over 115,000 people are
missing in Mexico. I know. One of those people is my cousin,
and all my family lives in Mexico.
We have to comprehend that the majority of those are women.
There is a word that is used in Mexico, and it is called
femicidio, and that is called femicide--the act of being
murdered just because you are a woman.
It is unimaginable for us to think that alongside those
seeking refuge are not the same people that are there to
victimize them, and alongside victimized citizens as well. I
have personally worked three cases within the city of Houston
where little girls were targeted simply because they were
young, beautiful, vulnerable, and, of course, underage.
Predators have an appetite for children. In all these
cases, there was an 11-year-old; a 12-year-old, whose mom is
here today, and a 16-year-old freshman in high school.
I am going to be the voice today for Maria Gonzalez, who
was also a migrant. She arrived here and her father didn't own
a vehicle. He walked to work. Her father is the essence of the
type of immigrants we should want in this country, a law-
abiding, hardworking man, working for $7 an hour 14 hours a
day. He left that weekend, and he told his daughter he was
going to work. She had a cell phone. She was in the safety of
her home.
This migrant that came here as a child, crossed the border,
was given to a sponsor, and was only here three weeks before he
decided to leave his sponsor's home; go to Pasadena, Texas,
from Louisiana, and he saw Maria. At one point or another, he
decided that was going to be his prey.
He saw her father leave to work. He knew their schedule. He
knocked on Maria's door. Maria, recognizing that it wasn't a
neighbor, told her father on WhatsApp on a voice message,
``Hey, Dad, somebody is knocking on the door.'' She said it in
Spanish, ``[Speaking foreign language.]'' ``Dad, is that you
knocking on the door?''--thinking her father had forgotten
something. That was the last time he ever heard Maria's voice.
When Maria went to the door--there is a little chain that
we have in those apartments, right, when you open the door to
try to keep us safe?--that chain was not enough to keep this
animal out of Maria's apartment. He pushed his way in, and
Maria fought for her life. She was 11 years old.
To all of you, three little girls passing away may not be
many, but what if one of those little girls was your daughter,
your granddaughter, or your niece? Can you imagine them trying
to fight off a grown man off them--the shock of being
undressed; the pain of being beaten and smothered; trying to
fight for your life while a predator's one objective is to use
them to satisfy their sick and demented appetites?
Our girls deserve protection. Our girls deserve to live
their life without fear. Our girls deserve to perish in a
natural manner of old age.
We live in a society where we have gained so much medical
advancements that, if you have cholesterol, diabetes, heart
disease, they will take care of you. We're losing healthy
children.
This case to me resonates because she is also a migrant
child. This says to me we're letting everything through the
border because we're not checking them. You're victimizing
citizens; you're victimizing immigrants alike. We're not
against immigration. We're against unvetted immigration.
I want you to know, as a woman who has a majority of their
family in Mexico that are not privileged enough to be in this
country, there's no such thing as collecting DNA swabs. There's
no such thing as embalming. There's no such thing as doing a
real autopsy, like we do here.
Mexico and Central America is where predators thrive. You
think they come here to this country, and it is the first time
they do this? No, this is just a place where we figure out and
we care about our daughters, and we are going to find out.
Finding a little girl in Mexico that has been sexually
assaulted is just a normal Tuesday. It's nothing unusual.
So, I want you to know immigration is good. I am the living
proof of that. My parents don't even have a speeding ticket.
That is the type of migrants we want.
Bringing them to this country, it is further victimizing
what these same immigrants got-away from in their countries. We
have to have some form of check and balances, a real system to
identify these criminals that are hiding. They are wolves in
sheep's clothing, is what they are.
So, I ask you, I implore you, close your eyes. I know you
have a little girl in your family. Imagine somebody undressing
her. Imagine somebody fighting her. Imagine somebody strangling
her.
Maria was so covered in bruises. I had to go and shop for a
funeral dress for her to cover the damage that the man did to
her. Maria lost fingernails in her fight. She is a migrant
child.
Not everybody is the same and we have to identify these
monsters. Because, like my dad says, ``they are giving all us
good migrants such a bad name.'' We owe it to the migrants that
are getting away from these communities, and we owe it to our
citizens to offer them a safe society.
People say, well, citizens kill, too. In these cases, all
these cases are migrants that cause this. It is the failure of
our policies by not checking them.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Aguirre follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Amen. Well said.
Ms. Fundner, you are recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF ANNE FUNDNER
Ms. Fundner. Thank you. Dear Members of the House
Judiciary--
Chair Jordan. Do you just want to hit that microphone, too?
Hit that button right there, yes.
Ms. Fundner. Dear Members of the House Judiciary Committee,
my name is Anne Fundner, and I'm a wife and a mother of four
beautiful and amazing children.
I'm here to share the story about the devastating
consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration's open borders.
I hope that, by sharing my pain, others may be spared the same
heartache.
I want to tell you about my first-born son Weston. He was
an extraordinary child. He was the best big brother. He was a
sweet and loving son and a great friend to so many and a joy to
everyone who knew him. We attended church. He loved football,
hockey, surfing, and had so many friends. He had a great heart
of gold and a compassion for others that I have never seen on
another person. He was always standing up for other people.
My husband and I were fully involved in our children's
lives. Weston, like so many teenagers, he wanted to fit in.
During his second semester of his freshman year in high school,
at the early age of 15, he succumbed to a moment of peer
pressure. He made a tragic mistake, and it took his life.
In February 2022, our lives were shattered. Our first-born
son, my everything, he was gone. His whole future and
everything that we prepared him for, all of our hopes and
dreams were stolen in that instant. Despite our best efforts
and our conversations about the dangers of drugs, and our
constant support, and our love for him--he knew he was so
loved--fentanyl claimed our son.
Our kids are supposed to learn from their mistakes. Twenty
years ago, this would not have killed my son. They are dying
from them. Kids today can't make mistakes. Fentanyl changes
everything. Illicit fentanyl came over the open borders
illegally that killed my son. It didn't give him a chance to
learn from his mistake.
I hold Joe Biden and Kamala Harris responsible for my son's
death. Their open border policies have led to this devastating
crisis. Our tragedy could have been prevented if they had taken
decisive action to protect Americans from fentanyl flooding
over the borders.
Instead, they have exacerbated this issue with their open
border policies. Vice President Harris, appointed to manage the
border situation--and I have heard a tweet from March 2021 that
specifically says that she has been appointed to the border.
Every Democrat, I hold them all--excuse me--I hold Vice
President Harris, appointed to manage the border situation, and
she has failed to act. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and every
Democrat who supports these open border policies are complicit
in the deaths of 300,000 innocent Americans, including my son
Weston. Say his name. Look at his picture.
Since this administration took office, 300,000 sets of
parents have had to bury their children. In 2021 up until now,
300,000, and that doesn't include 2024. It is now the leading
cause of death for Americans ages 18-45, and it is rapidly
becoming the No. 1 killer of teens, with 14 and under being the
fastest-growing demographic. I can show you every day babies
are dying from this, toddlers, 12-year-olds, 14-year-olds--your
children and your grandchildren. It can happen to anybody's
children.
President Biden, who knows the pain of loss and losing a
child and has another child who has battled addiction, you
would think that he would prioritize this issue. Yet, he
remains absent.
Vice President Harris' March 23, 2021, her tweet claimed
that she was appointed to address the border crisis. She
acknowledged the difficulty of the task, but that it was a
necessary one. However, for over three years, she has done
zero--zero--to address this problem.
The open borders are a matter of national security. When
this administration opened the borders, they gave operational
control to the cartels, who are operating a multibillion
business on American soil--I just want to say that--
unregulated, tax-free. While not addressing the problem, it
will continue to happen.
I want to tell you how evil this drug is on our children.
If your child tries fentanyl one time, it is not a matter of if
they will die: It's a matter of when. The drug dealers are very
well-trained, and they are manipulative and predatory. They
know it's 50 times more addictive than crack. So, if your child
tries it once, they've got a customer.
Withdraw symptoms set in after one time of trying it.
Within
2-3 hours, your child will be battling severe symptoms that we,
as adults, could barely handle. Drug dealers, like groomers,
convince your child that they can't tell their parents; they've
done something wrong. So, they give them more. Now, you have a
child trying to deal with an addiction that they never wanted
for the first time in their life. For $7.50, you can deliver it
to your front door, placed under a mat for your child, or their
child can deliver it to their front door on social media.
Parents are finding their children dead in their beds, a
place that should be their safe space of comfort where they lay
their heads at night. In the morning, parents are waking up to
this nightmare.
It is being supported by drug dealers; supported by the
cartels coming over our wide-open borders.
Chair Jordan. Ms. Fundner--
Ms. Fundner. OK. I'm almost done.
Chair Jordan. Yes, go ahead.
Ms. Fundner. OK.
Chair Jordan. Quickly.
Ms. Fundner. OK.
Chair Jordan. Thank you.
Ms. Fundner. Few in this room can truly understand the
depth of my pain, and unfortunately, too many families in
America can. Weston is gone and his death is a direct
consequence of the decisions made by the Biden-Harris
Administration. The open borders have been allowed to persist
and have led to tragedies like the one that I shared and that
shattered my family.
I stand before you today to hold them and anyone who
supports open borders accountable, and I implore you to take
this to heart.
Chair Jordan. Thank you.
Ms. Fundner. Let this be a catalyst for change. Because the
decisions that we make will prevent further tragedies and save
lives.
Thank you for your time and thank you for the extra time.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Fundner follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. You bet. Thank you.
We are going to go, if we could go really quick, and then,
we have got to take a recess.
Ms. Morin, you are recognized for five minutes.
STATEMENT OF PATTY MORIN
Ms. Morin. Thank you.
I have before me a written statement, but it is hard for me
to read off a piece of paper. So, I'm just going to share from
my heart.
Chair Jordan. Yes.
Ms. Morin. My daughter, a 37-year-old woman, she has five
children. On August 5th, she went for a walk on a trail in a
small town. We live in a small town in Maryland. We've walked
this trail for over 25 years as a family. So, it was very
familiar, very safe.
She went for her daily run. She didn't come home that
night. The next day, they went out looking for her. They found
her--and I'm going to tell you what the court records have
said--they found her badly beaten. She was strangled. She was
raped. The medical examiner said she had bruises that blanketed
her body. She had 10-15 head wounds. She was stuffed into a
drainpipe.
I went to the funeral home because I had to decide if we
could do an open casket for her, for our grandchildren, for our
family. You could tell from looking at my daughter that they
had filled in all the holes with wax. They tried to straighten
her broken nose and tried to align her face back the way that
it--to look normal. She was covered with makeup so thick, it
didn't even look like it was a human being. I wasn't allowed to
see from the neck down the rest of her body.
This person is, we found out after investigation--we had
DNA that came off my daughter, DNA from a crime that he had
committed in Los Angeles, where he attacked a nine-year-old
girl and the little girl's mom. It turns out that this man was
an illegal immigrant from El Salvador.
Tammy Nobles and I live in the same town that Tammy Nobles'
daughter lives in Maryland. My daughter lived 15 minutes South
of this town.
An illegal immigrant, he crossed the border three times;
was sent back. The fourth time, he was a got-away. If they had
at any time did the cheek swab for the DNA, they would have
known that this person had an Interpol warrant for his arrest
for murdering a woman in El Salvador, which is why he was
fleeing to America.
After he murdered my daughter, he stayed in the same town
where he murdered her, continued to work in restaurants, and
changed his appearance.
We did a nationwide search. We did flyers. We did
commercials. We've done everything, interviews, everything we
could to keep her story alive, to tell the horrible thing that
happened to my daughter.
I wish there was a way to show you pictures of her and what
she looked like, what the crime scene looked like. It is the
most brutal crime that has happened in Maryland that they can
even remember.
Her children are having a hard time. All of us as a family
are having a hard time. We have nightmares.
I want to tell you another story. This story happened--I'll
make it really short--in 1975. There was a 14-year-old girl who
was abducted from her house by a criminally insane man. She was
kidnaped. She walked 60 miles toward the Canadian border with
this man with no food, no water. Walked through the woods. At
night, she was raped multiple times.
The parents and the police did not expect to find this
girl, and if they did, they did not expect to find her alive.
I'm that teenager and I can tell you that what I suffered as a
teenager at the hand of a criminally insane man is nothing
compared to the horrors that my daughter suffered.
It is because of these open borders. I realize some of you
are disinterested in this because you just think it's a
partisan thing. These are American people. These are American
families. These are our children, and pretty soon, they will be
our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren.
We need to close the borders. If I can survive a crime from
an American citizen, these people that are coming over the
border, if they are coming over illegally, it is because they
have something to hide. Those that come here legally, they are
doing the due process which is necessary to protect them and to
protect us.
My grandparents were immigrants. They came into America at
Ellis Island. They stayed at Ellis Island. They were vetted
before they were allowed to come into the interior of the
United States.
I just left the Southern border, where I spoke to Border
Patrol. They showed me their gunshot wounds. They told me their
stories about how they suffered broken necks, broken backs, and
fractured skulls. It's a war zone there.
We need to close it. We need to put those policies back
into place that kept our citizens safe.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Morin follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you.
Ms. Nungaray?
STATEMENT OF ALEXIS J. NUNGARAY
Ms. Nungaray. Good morning to the Members of the Committee.
I want to thank you all for having me here to share my
daughter's story on how the current administration open border
policies have affected us in Texas.
I was 14 when I found out I was going to be a mom. I knew I
was young, and I didn't how I was going to do it, but I know I
needed to do what was right, which is be the best mom I could
be to my daughter. I fought for her.
On December 27, 2011, was the day the rest of my life
changed for the better. Jocelyn Lisel Nungaray was born. She
was the happiest, chunkiest, little baby. She grew up to be
this spunky, quirky, funny, beautiful, little, 12-year-old
young lady. She had a personality like no other. She was so
caring, loving, thoughtful, one of the greatest friends you
could ask for. She was so talented. She had the biggest dreams
to be an actress, and she swore that she was going to be famous
one day.
It has been two months and 25 days today since my daughter
has passed away. On Monday, June 17, 2024, my daughter Jocelyn
was murdered and thrown in a bayou of water underneath a creek.
On that Sunday night before, I went to bed and told Jocelyn
goodnight, and I loved her. She was there when I closed my eyes
that night. That Monday morning, when I opened my eyes, she was
gone. She was a preteen out doing what teenagers do, going to
the corner store to get a soda.
She was preyed on by two illegal Venezuelan immigrants.
They saw an innocent young girl and made her a target for their
horrendous actions.
That Monday morning, June 17th, it was terrifying waking up
to know your child was missing and frantically searching the
area where her phone was being pinged, just two minutes away
from our home.
Driving up to that exact location to see crime scene tape
and officers by a bridge, my heart sank. I ran out of the car
to the officers. I explained I woke up to my daughter missing
and I don't know where she is, but her phone is pinging right
where we were.
They said they hadn't seen anything, and they would let me
know. Within 45 minutes, I receive a phone call from a sergeant
asking me to come downtown to discuss her whereabouts. I'm
still hanging on the hope that my 12-year-old daughter is still
somewhere out there.
They bring me to the floor labeled ``Homicide Division.'' I
didn't know what to think. After being taken to a room,
speaking for about every minute I remember leading up to my
last moments with her, was when they had finally told me that
the body where my daughter Jocelyn's phone was being pinged,
followed by seeing the photo I showed them, confirmed their
suspicions, and they did believe the Jane Doe body that was
found matched the picture of my daughter Jocelyn Nungaray. My
heart shattered. I couldn't believe what was just told to me.
A day after being told about my daughter, I was told they
were going to need to release pictures of the illegal
immigrants and my daughter from footage to the local news
stations to help find who murdered my daughter Jocelyn.
They proceeded to tell me how my daughter was murdered. She
was strangled to death. She had no clothing from the waist
down. Her hands and her ankles were tied and thrown under the
bridge of water like she was nothing but garbage.
The community of Houston was the biggest support. Just 24
hours for them to be found, arrested, and charged with capital
murder. Within those same hours, I received a phone call from
the medical forensics confirming that the body was, in fact, my
daughter Jocelyn.
The two illegal immigrants were Johan Jose Martinez Rangel,
22, and Franklin Pena Ramos, 27 years old. They are both
Venezuelan natives.
The Border Patrol apprehended Johan near El Paso on March
14th, and was released that same day on an order of
recognizance with a notice to appear.
The Border Patrol also apprehended Franklin Pena on May
28th, also near El Paso. On that same day he was apprehended, a
judge also ordered Franklin to appear in court at a later date.
Because of the Biden-Harris Administration open border
policies, catch and release, they were enrolled in the
alternatives to detention program. This meant that they were
released into the United States.
It was not even a full three weeks later that they would
take my daughter Jocelyn Nungaray's life. They saw a young
girl, my daughter Jocelyn, and placed a target on her without
her even knowing.
They were seen on video at 12:57 a.m. on June 17th walking
across the street down by the bayou under the bridge. At 3:04,
only the two illegal immigrants emerged. They were down there
for two whole hours. I can't even fathom what was going through
Jocelyn's mind, the amount of fear she was feeling in the last
moments of her life.
Franklin Pena confessed that they had did something bad;
the fact that they knew that their faces were exposed all over
the news. They were trying to ask their boss for money, so they
could leave town.
It was told, one of the illegal immigrants told the other
one after they were finished to throw Jocelyn down in the bayou
under the bridge to, quote, ``get rid of any DNA.'' Individuals
like that do not have a heart. They are nothing but monsters
who are predators, and those are the kind of individuals that
we so openly let in this country.
I believe the Biden-Harris Administration open border
policies are responsible for the death of my daughter. The
program where the two illegal immigrants were enrolled failed
my daughter.
I'm here to use my voice and raise awareness of how broken
our country has become with these open border policies. My
daughter should have been able to safely walk across to the
store knowing that she was going to make it home.
In regard to our open border failed policies, I have been
working closely with Senator Ted Cruz to push the Justice for
Jocelyn Act of 2024, which would require ICE to fill every
single open detention center bed before releasing immigrants
who entered the country illegally and to have GPS monitoring
tracking for certain immigrants with strict curfew hours
restricting them from being able to be out all hours of the
night, and immediately be deported with who violates the terms
of their release.
My daughter Jocelyn Nungaray was 12 years old. She was an
innocent kid doing kid things. She did not deserve to have her
life ripped away from her and our family. She had her entire
life ahead of her.
Because of these open border policies, I'll never get to
see her start high school, go off to prom, walk down the aisle,
get married, or have her own kids, or ever reach her full
dreams. All of it is gone.
I now and forever will continuously be her voice, and I
will not stop fighting for Jocelyn. I come to you all as a
grieving mother to please help make this country make a change
for the greater good. This country needs to make a change. We
need to properly secure our borders. We need to be able to have
that security, knowing we are safe in our own country. Most
importantly, we need to protect our children. They are supposed
to be our future.
Thank you so much for your time and for the extra time.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Nungaray follows:]
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you. God bless you.
We are going to take a recess.
Back here, we will have something to drink for you and
lunch will be coming at some point.
Hopefully, we will be back and resume the Committee as
quickly as possible.
The Committee stands in recess.
[Recess.]
Chair Jordan. The Committee will come to order. We will now
proceed under the five-minute rule with questions. The Chair
recognizes the gentleman from California, Mr. McClintock.
Mr. McClintock. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Sheriff Boudreaux,
one of the obvious and most frightening aspects of this open
border is the migration of the most violent gangs in the world
into our community such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. You said
that the cartels are already trying sink roots into your
community. Could you go a little bit more into the details of
what you're dealing with now in Tulare County?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Yes, sir. What's interesting is that the
cartels have actually infiltrated within California, even
within agricultural businesses and businesses up and down the
State of California. They are very smart and very good at what
they do. They're businessmen.
They're also very dangerous and violent and they lead by
intimidation and fear. In our county alone, the cartel that we
dismantled was a Sinaloa cartel. Of the 50 people we arrested,
the DEA is still hunting down the primary suspect who actually
lives in Sinaloa, Mexico. During the course of this
investigation, we did learn that homicides had taken place up
and down the State as well as in the Central San Joaquin
Valley.
Mr. McClintock. Did you say that one suspect was
responsible for 25 murders?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Yes, sir. So, in another case--
Mr. McClintock. So, what you're seeing in California today
in real time?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Real time. We have a man who was an
assassin working for the cartel. This man admitted to over 25
different assassinations that took place at the direction of
the cartel. He was discovered after he had committed a homicide
and accidentally had left a receipt from a gas station.
We caught him on video and was able to speak with him.
During the course of the investigation, admitted to those. What
he also admitted is that he was responsible for a certain area
of California and there were many other assassins assigned by
cartels in California, throughout California that were
responsible for those areas.
Mr. McClintock. So, this is going on all over the State,
presumably all over every State. Are you hearing from other
sheriffs about these issues?
Sheriff Boudreaux. I am.
Mr. McClintock. What are they saying?
Sheriff Boudreaux. They're saying much of the same thing.
Sheriff Lamb is a good friend of mine out of Arizona who he and
I speak pretty regularly. Much of what I speak of in regard to
California and the violence as well as the human trafficking,
it's mirrored in other States all throughout the United States.
Mr. McClintock. Now, illegal migrants often arrive into
this country deeply indebted to the Mexican cartels that do
actually control the border. How do the cartels enforce these
debts on the other migrants?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Enforce on who?
Mr. McClintock. On the other migrants.
Sheriff Boudreaux. What's happening in our communities,
we're seeing people who have come into the United States on
work visas and/or victim visas where they're living in these
small migrant farming towns. The cartel wants to control these
migrant towns and truly lead the same way that they are in
other countries, specifically in Mexico.
Mr. McClintock. So, the violence we're seeing in Mexico is
already here and is in the process of getting deeply rooted
into our communities?
Sheriff Boudreaux. It's already rooted.
Mr. McClintock. Wow. What impact would you say sanctuary
policies are having on this phenomenon as well as the Democrats
no cash bail bonds?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Well, I can speak to California. As you
are aware, Senate Bill 54 made California a sanctuary State.
Here's some of the problems that we're facing.
Every sheriff in the State of California in times past used
to be able to ask immigration status of those who are arrested
and coming through our jails. That no longer is in existence.
Sheriffs and law enforcement are no longer allowed under Senate
Bill 54 supported by Kamala Harris at the time, spearheading
much of the Senate Bill 54 with Sacramento Democrats.
Mr. McClintock. So, when the Democrats tell us, well,
there's no real evidence that illegal migrants cause more
crimes, you're not even allowed to ask if they're illegal
migrants.
Sheriff Boudreaux. Well, and that's part of the formula. If
I'm not able to ask, then there's no data to support. So, we
are legally bound in California from asking someone their
immigration status under Senate Bill 54.
Mr. McClintock. The New York Post recently reported that
NYPD officers were estimating about 75 percent of the violent
crimes they're arresting in Manhattan are committed by illegal
migrants. Can you give us a rough estimate just from your
experience what you think is going on in California?
Sheriff Boudreaux. I'd have to give you experience and
opinion because the data doesn't allow me to collect it through
the formula.
Mr. McClintock. Right. What's your estimate?
Sheriff Boudreaux. What I can tell you is that the crimes
that we're seeing based on our investigations that we're well
over 50 percent.
Mr. McClintock. Wow. I see my time has expired. Thank you.
Sheriff Boudreaux. Thank you, sir.
Chair Jordan. I thank the gentleman. The gentleman yields
back. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized for five
minutes.
Mr. Ivey. Thank you, Mr. Chair. My staff prepared a speech
for me today. I'm going to set that aside and just speak to the
witnesses today who are survivors.
I want to say that I certainly offer my condolences. My
heart goes out to you for the losses that you've suffered. I
did want to say this too, though, a slight departure from the
script that these hearings typically take.
I'm a former prosecutor. I spent four years as a prosecutor
here in Washington, DC. During the height of the crack wars, we
averaged about 450-500 murders here per year.
In a short time after that, I became the State's Attorney
in Prince George's County, Maryland. Ms. Morin and Ms. Nobles,
I think you're both from Maryland. I think the people that
handled your cases were State's Attorneys as well.
One of the things I found, I got there in office in 2002. I
didn't realize it when I was running, but there was a gang
called MS-13 that had come to the District, Maryland, and
Virginia and was a highly violent gang. They are organized
criminally, and they were 20-plus years ago at the time.
They commit extreme violent acts along the lines of what
you're talking about. I think the first case we had was they
killed a witness with a golf club. It was a 14-year-old girl.
They tricked her into going into a cemetery, and they beat her
to death in the head using a golf club to kill her.
I guess Bush was the President at the time. We had similar
kinds of issues as what we're talking about today, people going
and coming back. They get deported from here, even after being
prosecuted.
They made them serve out their jail time, then they would
deport them back to El Salvador. One of them I talked to
subsequently. He'd become a witness against other members in
the gang. So, basically, they just viewed it as a free trip
home because they knew that they could come back whenever they
wanted to. That was 2003.
I think one of the things I'd like to say to you all is I
deeply respect taking up the mantle that you've taken up today.
You're able to speak with the moral authority that politicians
like me really can't. I know you'd rather trade that in a
heartbeat to get your loved ones back, and I know we can't do
that today.
I'll say this as well. I've been involved in public service
for a long time. In fact, that was my first boss in politics
right there, John Conyers.
He was the Chair of the Committee. Last time it passed
legislation on immigration which was over 35 years ago. I also
had a chance to--and they did that on a bipartisan basis by the
way.
When I was State's Attorney in Prince George's County, we
did a joint prosecution with a Federal prosecutor in a RICO
case. We took down 23 gang leaders. The prosecutor in that case
was Rod Rosenstein.
Rod and I had known each other because we'd been on the
opposite sides of the Whitewater Case. I worked for the Senate
Democrats essentially defending the Clinton Administration. He
worked for Ken Starr essentially trying to take down the
Clinton Administration.
He was obviously Republican. I was obviously a Democrat. We
were able to come together and work that case together and do
it in a successful way.
Now, you'll notice that at this hearing that there's no
legislation connected to the testimony that's being presented
today. I think one of you actually referenced Ted Cruz
legislation, the Senate side. There's nothing pending here in
the House that would address the problems we're talking about
today.
We had a chance to do that, but we chose not to do that.
The Chair and my Republican colleagues chose not to do that.
There's a story behind that I don't have time to tell. It does
really get to the point I want to make to you which is this.
Beyond the selection cycle because that's an issue that's
in the way of getting something done right now that'll address
the kinds of problems that you're talking about, there's going
to be more opportunities for you to use your voices and your
platforms to address these kinds of issues. I'm a Democrat.
You're Republicans or they're Republicans.
You may be Independents. I don't know. I know that there's
truth on both sides on this issue. There's a way to get to a
place where we can resolve it, but we won't do it in a partisan
way.
So, I want to thank you for coming today. I urge you to
continue the struggle, the fight, and the voice. I think, Ms.
Nungaray, you said you will forever be her voice. I know that's
true for all of you, and I encourage you to continue in that
fight and that effort.
I hope that we can get to a point where we move beyond the
partisanship, beyond the politics that have nothing to do with
resolving the problem and can get to a place where we can
address it. Just for an additional moment, Mr. Chair. If I
could read Justice Kavanaugh. This is a quote I read every time
we have a hearing like this. He's a Republican obviously. I
want to say,
As the District Court found, the Executive Branch does not
possess the resources necessary to arrest or remove all of the
noncitizens covered by the arrest and removal statutes. That
reality is not an anomaly. It is a constant.
For the last 27 years since those laws were enacted in their
current form, all five Presidential Administrations have
determined constraints necessitated prioritization in making
immigration arrests. In light of the inevitable resource
constrains and regularly changing public safety and public
welfare needs, the Executive Branch must balance many factors
when devising arrest and prosecution policies.
I read that just to say this. Five administrations have
come and gone. We still haven't gotten things done. We're not
going to get anything done today from a legislative standpoint,
but there's a way to get it done if we can come together and
work in a bipartisan way to do it. So, I thank you for the work
that you've done and you will continue to do, and I yield back
the balance.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. Before yielding to
the gentleman from Arizona, I would just point out bad things
may have happened 20 years ago. Obviously, more bad things are
happening now in light of 10 million people in 3\1/2\ years
coming into the country.
That's the different dynamic. That's what our witnesses are
talking about. I yield to the gentleman from Arizona for five
minutes.
Mr. Ivey. If I might, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. I gave you an extra two minutes.
Mr. Biggs. Mr. Chair, thank you. What I point out is I
don't want to get distracted by responding to all of what I
would call blather I just heard. I will say this.
The Republican party joined with Democrats to pass H.R. 2,
15 months ago and that was a border security bill. That
would've taken care of a lot of issues that we see on the
border. So, I first want to thank, in particular, all our
witnesses for coming, but in particular pay homage to Ms.
Nobles, Ms. Aguirre, Ms. Fundner, Ms. Morin, and Ms. Nungaray.
Thank you for your courage and your very poignant testimony
today. We won't forget. I want to read a quote here from one of
the witnesses that the Democrats invited.
But cruel and inhumane actions and policies by the United
States Border Patrol, Texas Department of Public Safety, and
local law enforcement have made it incredibly difficult for
individuals fleeing violence and security to live safety.
Sheriff, an open border that lets people come in by the
millions unvetted that terrorize Americans, can you describe
that as anything but cruel and inhumane?
Sheriff Boudreaux. What we're seeing is very cruel. When I
look in the eyes of 11-year-old girls who have been brought
across the border and have been raped, when we have young
families who have been brought across the border as victims of
human trafficking landing in the United States, specifically to
what I can speak to in the Central San Joaquin Valley of
California, not one or two. These are hundreds.
Hundreds of people coming across as victims where they're
brutally raped, beaten, and used in a sexual way and in the sex
industry is cruel. I feel that if we secure our border, we vet
the people coming in. We identify the most egregious and
felonious and those with mental health conditions that are
impacting the safety of Americans and Californians as to what I
can speak to. I would identify your statement as being true,
very cruel.
Mr. Biggs. So, just for relational or contextual matter,
the Yuma Sector which is one of the largest on the Southwest
border in the last year of the previous administration, their
encounters were about 8,600. That includes unaccompanied
minors, single men, family units, and others, about 8,500.
During the height of what we've seen going on under this
administration, the Biden-Harris plan on the border, Yuma at
one point was getting that weekly.
There have been weekends that they've gotten that. It's now
back a pace where it takes about 3-4 weeks to get that. What
they experienced in one year, that small community is seeing
about once a month now.
It comes with it the flow of individuals that are totally
nonvetted. Away they go. We don't know where they're going.
The No. 1 got-away corridor, the Tucson Sector in which I
live, No. 1 got-away, we don't know who they are or where
they're going. We know that they are trying like crazy to evade
capture. They get into their communities and you see what's
happened by the testimony today.
I keep on my computer, and I was just looking at it earlier
today. There are literally hundreds of articles over the last
three months of violent crimes perpetrated on Americans and
those who are legally in the country by those who have
illegally come into the country and been released. It isn't a
matter necessarily of resources because there are ICE beds and
ORR beds available.
It is a matter of policy because they won't like you,
Sheriff, actually report to ICE and request information. If
there's an ICE hold, can you turn them over to ICE? You cannot.
It is policy that has driven the grief that you see here today.
My time is up.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. The gentlelady
from Texas is recognized.
Ms. Escobar. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I first want to also
express my profound condolences to each and every one of you
who've suffered loss. I have two kids. I'm a mom. I would do
anything for my kids, and I cannot imagine the grief of losing
a loved one in such a tragic way.
So, I want you to know how much I respect the courage that
it took for you to be here today to share your grief and your
pain. I represent El Paso, Texas, an incredible community on
the U.S.-Mexico border. I'm the only Member of this Committee
who actually lives on the border, raised her kids on the
border.
I'm a third-generation border resident. There is no one who
wants to modernize our outdated laws more than those of us who
live on the border. We are the families that have for decades
been trying to help the Federal Government treat people with
dignity and humanity.
We have long been asking for reform. I think what is most
frustrating to me as a Member of Congress is what is happening
today at this Committee hearing where we have colleagues who
are exploiting people's pain for political purposes.
Unfortunately, that's what's happening today.
The finger pointing at the administration by Members of
Congress is frustrating to me as a Member of Congress because
we are the ones who write the laws. It is legislatures who are
responsible to write the laws around immigration, around border
policy. It is up to legislatures to adequately fund the
resources necessary.
I can tell you that I have been pushing a bipartisan
comprehensive immigration reform bill that addresses outdated
border policies and that addresses migration and immigration
together. There are eight Republicans who've had the courage to
join that bill. None of them are on this Committee.
That bill cannot move because of the obstacles put in front
of that. The administration has tried and asked over and over
again for adequate resources. They've been hamstrung by
obstacles put in the way preventing those resources from
getting to where they need to be.
Mr. Ivey mentioned a Senate bill, a Senate Bill so
draconian I could not have voted for it. It was enforcement
only. It was to me not workable because it was so focused again
only on enforcement.
It wasn't Democrats who stood in the way of that. It was
the folks on the other side of the aisle who torpedoed what was
the most border hardening bill ever written. That's what
Republicans called it.
With regard to--Mr. Ivey, you mentioned wanting solutions
and one of our colleagues mentioned H.R. 2. I know you're aware
of this. Their bill, H.R. 2, relies almost exclusively on
Mexico. If Mexico wasn't doing the job that they're determining
needed to be done in H.R. 2, H.R. 2 was a fantasy. It wouldn't
do anything.
My point is this. When there were mass shootings including
as Ms. Lopez mentioned the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, by
a white supremacist, 23 people shot and murdered in cold blood
with an assault style weapon, traumatizing an entire community.
We held hearings that were linked to solutions.
We wanted to solve the issue. We wanted to bring
resolution. We wanted to find a path forward so that people
wouldn't live with the kind of pain that communities like ours
that have lived through mass shootings had to live through.
There really, truly--there is very little interest on the
other side of working in a bipartisan way to find meaningful
solutions. You all deserve that. Our country deserves that.
There are those of us in Congress fighting to get to those
bipartisan solutions because we don't want to see families
living in pain.
We don't want you to endure the loss--we don't want anyone
else to endure the loss that you all have endured. I and other
colleagues are going to continue to work on those bipartisan
solutions because that's what our country deserves. I hope you
will join us in fighting for those bipartisan solutions because
it's long past time that we get there. Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady yields back. Ms. Nobles, did
Republicans on this Committee--Ms. Nobles, did Republicans on
this Committee or any Republican staff exploit you in any way
to come to today's hearing?
Ms. Nobles. No, I am not being forced to be here. I am here
because I want to be here, and I want changes to be made. I'm
fighting here for my daughter. I can't speak for everyone else,
but I'm sure the other witnesses weren't even forced to be here
either. They want to because they love their children.
Chair Jordan. In fact, my understanding is our Republican
staff helped you get answers to the murder of your daughter
that you didn't get from anywhere else. Our staff helped get
that information by going to DHS.
Ms. Nobles. Yes, you have. Yes, you have.
Chair Jordan. How about you, Mr. Morin, do you feel
exploited in any way? That's what the Democrats have said.
Ms. Morin. No, I don't feel exploited at all.
Chair Jordan. You're here to tell your story about what's
going on out there.
Ms. Morin. Yes.
Chair Jordan. Ms. Nungaray?
Ms. Nungaray. No, I do not feel exploited. I simply want to
raise awareness that we need change. My daughter's voice and
her memory should not get lost in that.
Chair Jordan. Well said. Ms. Fundner?
Ms. Fundner. No, I don't feel exploited in any way. As a
matter of fact, I find it very interesting that all five
minutes for both of your testimoneys on the left have not had
any questions for us up here but instead give a speech. I will
tell you I'm getting tired of hearing about the most
comprehensive border bill which did nothing for immigration--
for American citizens.
It gave visas to people who need to extend their visas, and
it gave asylum to people coming over. It did zero for an
American citizen. I would love somebody to answer to me what it
actually did for American citizens. It did not do anything for
American citizens.
Chair Jordan. Ms. Aguirre?
Ms. Aguirre. It's insulting that you would say that to
these families, that you would make an assumption that they're
being used or exploited in any way. What I will do is, I'll
give you my number.
I'd like a phone call from you to see what you can do to
help these families because every single week I get bombarded
with calls from victims all over the United States. I'm just a
small person with a small foundation that helps people here
locally in Houston and Harris County. Not one time when her
daughter was murdered, and I was helping her navigate the
criminal justice system, did one Democrat call me to offer
their assistance. It was only Republicans. I am an Independent.
I vote both ways. So, it's insulting.
Ms. Escobar. I'm happy to call you.
Ms. Aguirre. No, please don't speak over me because I'm
still talking. I'm not done. I have the mic. I have the floor.
I have the floor. If you want to answer me, you ask.
Chair Jordan. The Chair has the time, and the witness is
allowed to respond.
Ms. Aguirre. You said some very broad statements. It's
insulting. These people lost loved ones. They lost children. We
want to see a difference.
We may not understand everything that's going on. I assure
you that we're not being used in any way. If today somebody
calls that number that wants to help from any side of the
aisle, we want solutions.
Ms. Escobar. That's what I just talked about.
Ms. Aguirre. I'm still talking.
Chair Jordan. The time--
Ms. Aguirre. So, please don't--
Ms. Escobar. I just talked about solutions, ma'am.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs--
Ms. Aguirre. Don't make an assumption--don't make an
assumption that we're being used. That is insulting.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the Chair. The Chair now
yields--
Ms. Aguirre. It's insulting.
Chair Jordan. The Chair yields the remainder of his time to
the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. Roy. I thank the witnesses. I thank the Chair. Ms.
Nungaray, your daughter was taken from you in June 2024 of this
year, correct?
Ms. Nungaray. Yes, that's correct.
Mr. Roy. She was killed by two Venezuelan men who crossed
into Texas in March and May of this year, correct?
Ms. Nungaray. That's correct.
Mr. Roy. Those two Venezuelan men that crossed into Texas
were released by this administration into the community after
crossing, correct?
Ms. Nungaray. That's correct.
Mr. Roy. Do you believe that your daughter would be here
today if they had not been released into the United States?
Ms. Nungaray. I so heartedly believe that, yes.
Mr. Roy. Mr. Morin, your daughter was taken from you in
August 2023, correct?
Ms. Morin. Yes.
Mr. Roy. Killed by a man from El Salvador who crossed
illegally and was a got-away. Is that correct?
Ms. Morin. Yes.
Mr. Roy. Do you believe your daughter would be here today
if the current administration were not overwhelming border
patrols such that we have two million known got-aways over the
last three years?
Ms. Morin. I think that if we had the policies in place
that we did a few years ago that vetted the immigrants that
came in that my daughter would still be here.
Mr. Roy. Ms. Nobles, your daughter was taken from you in
July 2022. Is that correct?
Ms. Nobles. Yes.
Mr. Roy. By a 17-year-old from El Salvador who entered in
March 2022, just a few months before, correct?
Ms. Nobles. Correct.
Mr. Roy. Was released into the country. Is that correct?
Ms. Nobles. Correct.
Mr. Roy. Do you believe that your daughter would be here
today if that individual had not been released into the country
according to a mass release program that has been underway for
the last three years?
Ms. Nobles. Yes, she would be alive today if they would've
made that one phone call to El Salvador to check because he did
have a criminal record in 2020 and gang related tattoos.
Mr. Roy. I yield back.
Mr. Biggs. [Presiding.] Thank you. Chair recognizes the
gentleman from New York, Mr. Nadler.
Mr. Nadler. Thank you. Dr. Farfan-Mendez, we've heard about
some devastating tragedies in today's hearing. Unfortunately,
tragedies occur far too often in this country at the hands of
noncitizens and citizens alike. Parents are afraid that their
kids won't be safe at school, at parades, at grocery stores,
and even at houses of worship.
The United States has long struggled to pass meaningful gun
violence prevention measures into law. Last Congress, we were
able to enact some much needed reforms, but far more must be
done. How does our inability to ensure that guns are well
regulated as the Second Amendment calls for emboldened cartels
and incenti-vize more people to migrate to the United States?
Ms. Farfan-Mendez. Thank you for your question, Congressman
Nadler. One of the things that when we discuss organized crime
is often lost in the conversation is that like any
organization, they also have operating costs. One of these
operating costs is related to guns and the ability to
perpetrate violence.
Because it's so easy to traffic guns from the United States
into Mexico, essentially what has happened is it has
significantly lowered the cost of perpetrating violence in
Mexico and other parts in the Western Hemisphere. What these
criminal groups are able to do because violence is an essential
component of their activities is issue very credible threats to
people, meaning that I can convince you because I have an
arsenal to prove it that either you comply with what I'm saying
or there will be consequences. What we have seen is that to the
extent that criminal groups are better armed and have these
arsenals again that are very easy to acquire and traffic from
the U.S. into Mexico and other parts in the hemisphere, this
creates displacement in communities meaning that it puts
pressure on migration corridors.
It creates challenges in terms of addressing the migration
flows that we're discussing here today. What I'm hearing today
essentially is I think all of us in this room are interested in
having the health and safety of our communities. What I will
say to you is that to the extent that this arms trafficking is
not addressed, it's going to be a root cause that is basically
left unattended.
We will be asking questions where the answer is very clear.
Again, to the extent that these criminal groups have access to
firearms that are very easy to acquire from the U.S. and also
ammunition, this will make it very cheap for them to perpetrate
violence. It would put a lot of pressure on migration flows.
Mr. Nadler. Thank you. Ms. Lopez, over the past few years,
we've seen harmful rhetoric thrown at religious organizations
that help migrants, including the Catholic Church and the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, HIAS. Such rhetoric was echoed by
the gunman who murdered 11 congregants at the Tree of Life
synagogue in 2018.
We've also heard attacks on religious organizations from
Members of this Committee. Your organization is affiliated with
the Roman Catholic Church of El Paso. Can you talk about how
your faith calls you to serve all those in need of help,
including asylum seekers?
Ms. Lopez. Yes, thank you, Congressman Nadler. For me at a
very fundamental level as a Catholic, it's important to me that
every single person be treated with human dignity and respect.
At the very core of the work that we do, that's what it comes
down to is treating people with respect. Even sitting here
today, having to hear the stories and the losses of the
witnesses on the panels, I can't even imagine the losses that
they're dealing with and the pain that they're going through.
So, we as an organization try really hard to make sure that
we are treating people with that same dignity and respect. That
as attorneys, we're bound by the law. We are bound by what we
are allowed to do within the legal system. We work really hard
to make sure that those individuals who do qualify for a
benefit that we treat them with the respect and dignity that
they deserve.
Mr. Nadler. Thank you. How do attacks on religious
organizations impact your work?
Ms. Lopez. It makes it really scary for us to do the work
day-in--day-out. I will say that it doesn't hinder our work,
but it certainly makes us more wary of our surroundings.
Following the mass shooting in 2018, we did have to increase
security around our building out of fear that we might be the
next target.
Mr. Nadler. Thank you, Dr. Farfan-Mendez and Ms. Lopez, you
both live and work on the border. Can you please tell us about
live on the border and how living there has shaped your view of
immigration in the United States? Dr. Farfan-Mendez, let's
start with you.
Ms. Farfan-Mendez. Thank you, Congressman Nadler. I'm an
immigrant and let me share a story with you. On August 30th, is
International Day of the Disappeared and August 31st, is
Overdose Awareness Day. It's by happenstance that these two
days happen to be together. It seems very pertinent to the
reality of North America.
In those two days, we sat empty chairs, one on the San
Diego side of the U.S. border and one in Tijuana for the
Mexican side. Those empty chairs symbolize precisely the loved
ones that are no longer at the table together with their loved
ones. What it meant to do and what it is, is a call to action,
to think about how border communities can work together.
What's interesting and pertinent to this hearing from this
call to action at the border is that families on both sides
came together to say these are sure tragedies and these are
sure pain. We should be thinking about how we can work together
and have meaningful engagement to stop deaths on both sides of
the border. So, I will leave you with that story of pragmatism
and hope again from the border in terms of how we can find a
path forward.
Mr. Nadler. Ms. Lopez.
Ms. Lopez. I would say for me, there's something really
beautiful about being on the border. We have the opportunity to
live a life that's quite complex in that we know what it's like
to be in Mexico. We know what it's like to be in the United
States.
We have a sharing of culture, a sharing of language, a
sharing of so much that it almost feels like one large
community along the border. There are the complexities of
immigration and immigration matters along the border that I
have family members that are unable to cross into the United
States because they don't have immigration status. So, it's a
complex life, but it's a very beautiful culturally rich place
to live.
Mr. Nadler. Thank you. I yield back.
Chair Jordan. [Presiding.] The gentleman yields back. The
gentleman from Texas is recognized.
Mr. Roy. I thank the Chair. I want to finish the line of
questioning that I started before. Ms. Aguirre, I'm going to
come back to you on something more specific. Just on this
simple question, you told a story of Maria Gonzalez, the 11-
year-old girl who was taken from her father and was killed, was
killed by a 17-year-old Guatemalan released into the United
States. Is that correct?
Ms. Aguirre. That's right.
Mr. Roy. In the microphone, yes.
Ms. Aguirre. That's right.
Mr. Roy. So, that is correct. Then I would say for Ms.
Fundner, your son, Weston, lost his life to fentanyl poisoning,
correct?
Ms. Fundner. Correct.
Mr. Roy. Now, unlike the specifics of some of these other
witnesses, you can't say for certain exactly how that fentanyl
got through and got through to your son. You would agree that
Weston is one of hundreds of thousands, correct? I think one of
you testified that 300,000 lost lives.
So, the many faces of fentanyl, right? The many faces of
fentanyl. Can we say that we are losing more Americans to
fentanyl poisoning as a direct consequence of open borders
allowing fentanyl to pour into our communities? Would you agree
with that, Ms. Fundner?
Ms. Fundner. One hundred percent.
Mr. Roy. We have witnesses here at the table talking about
the crimes that affected them directly. I would ask Sheriff
Boudreaux a yes or no or quick response to this question. In
2021, there are 11,200 pounds of fentanyl seized. You go to
crime. In 2022, we had 12,000 criminal alien arrests at the
border.
In 2023, border agents apprehended 15,000 criminals. With
two months left in Fiscal Year 2024, we are also at 15,000
criminal arrests, and the year isn't over yet so it's surging.
Here's the real problem.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle will say, oh,
look, it's working. They're doing their job. While Border
Patrol has intercepted those increasing numbers of criminals,
DHS whistleblowers revealed on August 11, 2024, that as many as
950,000 violent criminals have gone unidentified. In your
experience, do you think it is an accurate assessment that
scores, thousands of criminals are coming into the United
States and being released or getting away from authorities?
Sheriff Boudreaux. That is accurate and true.
Mr. Roy. That in your experience, you see it in real time.
Is that correct, Sheriff?
Sheriff Boudreaux. In real time.
Mr. Roy. So, we've talked about all the impacts on the
individuals that are testifying here. Ms. Aguirre, I wanted to
see if this would surprise you. I released a report, my office
did, entitled, ``Border Invasion'' or ``America Invaded.''
In it, I detailed 50 examples that we found, 50 examples.
There were more. We had to cut the list off to make sure we had
room. I'll read a few of these across the country and see if
you agree that you think this is a problem and what you're
experiencing in your life representing people that are victims:
On September 3rd, the consequences of the Biden-Harris
Administration's open border policy, the case of the
illegal alien brutally assaulting a teenage Louisiana
girl.
On August 30th, the case of the illegal alien who brutally
assaulted a New York woman.
On August 17th, Brazilian migrant accused of multiple
Massachusetts sex crimes arrested.
On August 15th, Haitian illegal immigrant charged with raping
pregnant woman at Massachusetts migrant motel.
On August 15th, U.S. officials nab Peruvian gang leader wanted
for nearly two dozen killings in home country.
On August 14th, machete wielder at Capitol was an illegal
immigrant despite being a priority, quote, ``for
detention.''
On August 13th, migrant charged with rape in third NYC sex
crime bust of an asylum seeker in two weeks.
On August 12th, NYC migrants, including one charged in sex
assault four months ago, raped woman at knife point,
beat her boyfriend.
On August 7th, Venezuelan migrant with suspected gang ties
released in the United States before terrorizing NYC
and is yet to be deported.
I can go all the way back, date by date, through the year,
into last year, November 4, 2021. Without objection, I'll
insert this into the record and the thousands of examples that
are plaguing Americans across the country. With that
background, first, Ms. Aguirre, can you confirm that these are
just a sampling of what you're experiencing as a victim
advocate out of Houston and people that are contacting you
across the country that this not hyperbole, that this is not
political, that these are, in fact, real human beings that
we're trying to advocate for? Second, can you explain to the
American people why was Maria targeted?
Ms. Aguirre. I'm going to start with the fact that the
reason there's so many sexual assaults committed by illegal
immigrants is because in their countries, there's very little
consequences, meaning that when there's a girl found that has
been raped and murdered, it's not unusual. There isn't DNA
collection and there's no embalming and there's no autopsy.
She's buried.
Along with her is what they did to her. So, these predators
thrive in these countries. If you're not from those countries,
you don't know that. Everybody thinks that it's like America
everywhere else and it's simply not.
So, when they come to this country to do this because they
are accustomed to doing that in their countries. There is a
problem with letting everybody in. The case of Maria Gonzalez
echoes this, because also Maria was here illegally as well.
Her father and she were living an honorable, quiet,
hardworking life while this other individual came into this
country as a child migrant, came in at 17 years old. He was 18
years old when he killed her. Three weeks into being in this
country and he killed her.
The reason he chose her is because she's a child. The
second reason, because she's a beautiful little girl. The third
is because she was vulnerable.
They don't even have respect for their own communities
because both of these individuals were from Guatemala. Did that
stop him from killing her? Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
It was not necessarily something that we could say, oh,
well, she passed away peacefully. No, she passed away fighting.
She passed away hurting. She passed away losing nails, biting
him, trying to get him off her in her own home.
These individuals see a little girl and they have an
appetite for her. They see a woman and they have an appetite
for her, because they do this in their country and it's not
unusual. These are the type of people that we're letting in.
By not checking, we don't know who's coming in. You're not
only--while you're reading your list, a lot of these people
they're harming are within their own seeking the people that
are in their hotels as well that are also migrants that are
being hurt. So, they're hurting each other.
As you two are here and the testimony, Ms. Lopez and Dr.
Mendez, you guys advocate for immigrants. Immigrants are also
being victims of these bad immigrants. I just don't understand
how we could let everybody in without checking them.
Mr. Roy. Thank you, Ms. Aguirre. I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from
California is recognized. We'll go down the line. I'll do
whatever--
Mr. Swalwell. Mr. Swalwell.
Chair Jordan. Swalwell. OK.
Mr. Swalwell. I'm sorry to each of you for the
circumstances that have brought you there. I'm truly sorry that
this has happened to your loved ones and the persons
responsible for the deaths of Weston, Arlene, Rachel, Kayla,
and Jocelyn should die in jail and then rot in hell. That's
what they deserve.
I believe in security. I want barriers on our Southern
border at every place that makes sense. I don't want anybody to
come into our country if we don't know who they are.
I was a prosecutor. I'm probably one of the only persons in
this room who's actually prosecuted and put away for the rest
of their life some of the most violent people in our community.
I'm the son of a cop.
My brothers are cops. The two of them walked the beat every
single day. I believe we can have security first and address a
workforce crisis and find a pathway to earn citizenship in our
country.
I want to be real with you. Congress is divided. It's hard
to get everything you want. On gun violence, I want an assault
weapons ban and background checks.
We have a divided Congress. So, we had to settle for
Republicans and Democrats coming together for the Safer
Communities Act. It wasn't perfect, but it was something. Fewer
kids will die in their classrooms today because Congress
compromised.
I want to be real with you. They don't want a compromise.
Donald Trump walked away from the second most conservative
Republican in the Senate offering a compromise. Don't take my
word for it. Take theirs.
[Video shown.]
Mr. Swalwell. Each of you came here today not easily but
you expected a serious forum. You are serious. This issue is
serious. They are not serious.
The Chair yesterday tweeted, are the aliens--the Chair
yesterday tweeted, ``When President Trump was in office, the
border was secure and illegal aliens weren't eating your
pets.'' He also then tweeted, again, knowing that you're going
to come here to talk about your loved ones who are lost, you
would expect some seriousness, some gravitas, and respect for
the people who came here. What in the hell is this?
The Chair tweets, ``protect our ducks and kittens in
Ohio,'' because he goes down some crazy rabbit hole, completely
debunked that aliens are eating pets. My God. Are you OK, Mr.
Chair? Because last year for a very long time, you tweeted and
promoted Kanye West as he was calling for genocide against the
Jews.
You kept it up. Now when we have victims coming here,
you're tweeting this nonsense. I don't know why you would do
this. I hope you're OK. I don't know if the aliens who are
eating your ducks are in the room with us right now.
Mr. Chair, this is a serious issue. These people have loved
ones who have been lost, and you tweeted this. So, I am sorry
that you came here expecting seriousness. You are serious. They
are not. You deserve a hell of a lot more than what you're
getting from them, and I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from
Wisconsin is recognized.
Mr. Tiffany. Thank you very much. I hope you appreciate the
drama that just came out here. We passed a bill called H.R. 2.
It's the best secure the border bill that has ever passed
through a House in the U.S. Congress.
If you read it, it secures the border. It accomplishes what
you would like to see happen. By the way, to secure the border,
it doesn't even require an act of Congress at this point.
The President undid it and the Vice President as the border
czar undid it. They can put it back together anytime that they
want to. It's as simple as that. Ms. Fundner, last week in my
home State of Wisconsin, an illegal alien gang member from
Venezuela was charged with domestic violence, sexual assault,
child abuse, and strangulation. Are you surprised?
Ms. Fundner. No, no.
Mr. Tiffany. Are you surprised that he already had active
warrants in the neighboring country for similar offenses?
Ms. Fundner. Absolutely not.
Mr. Tiffany. Mr. Boudreaux, Sheriff Boudreaux, would you be
surprised that this illegal alien had two fictitious
immigration documents on him, including a Social Security card
when he was arrested?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Not surprised at all.
Mr. Tiffany. Would you be surprised that during the
investigation by the police chief in Prairie du Chien,
Wisconsin, he uncovered that this illegal alien came to the
United States about a year ago in El Paso.
Sheriff Boudreaux. Not shocking.
Mr. Tiffany. Since he came across in El Paso, he was
arrested in Minneapolis in November 2023, for receiving stolen
property. Would that surprise you at all?
Sheriff Boudreaux. No.
Mr. Tiffany. Would it surprise you that Minneapolis did not
issue a detainer to ICE for his deportation?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Would not shock me.
Mr. Tiffany. Minneapolis being a sanctuary city. On
December 1, 2023, in Dane County which Madison is the seat of
Dane County. He was charged with strangulation, suffocation,
false imprisonment, battery, and disorderly conduct. Would that
surprise you at all?
Sheriff Boudreaux. No.
Mr. Tiffany. Sheriff Boudreaux, are you from California?
Sheriff Boudreaux. I am.
Mr. Tiffany. I did not hear your opening testimony. Isn't
it correct that the Vice President called for the end of ICE
detainers as an elected official?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Correct.
Mr. Tiffany. Mr. Chair, I think we should have a hearing in
the State of Wisconsin. Prairie du Chien is a community of
about 5,000 people, beautiful little community, South of La
Crosse on the Mississippi River. As a result of the failure,
certainly in Minneapolis, probably in Dane County also, there
is a person that has come to that little community now that has
been charged with violent crimes including against a minor.
As we're hearing from the people that are here today,
they're not surprised at all that this would happen. While
making the joke in regard to ducks and things like that, it
underlies a more serious issue in Springfield, Ohio, where you
have upward of 10,000 Haitians that have been pushed into that
small community? They think--they being the President and the
Vice President--that they're simply going to assimilate into
that community.
It's not happening. It's not happening across America. So,
Mr. Chair, I'm going to reissue the call once again. I think
this Committee should come to Wisconsin. If you could come to
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, people want answers.
They want answers of why this is going on in the United
States of America, how people can commit multiple offenses
across various jurisdictions, and nothing is done. America is
being destroyed. The fabric of family, community, it's being
destroyed, isn't it, Ms. Fundner?
Ms. Fundner. Yes, it certainly is.
Mr. Tiffany. So, I hope you'll come to Wisconsin. I know
it's happening in every State. I hope you'll come to Wisconsin
because maybe it can make a difference to stop people like the
current border czar from continuing this carnage of an invasion
that is happening across America. Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. It looks like we
may be heading to the Badger State.
The gentleman from California is recognized.
Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to also echo my
condolences to the parents of the victims. Thank you for being
here today. Thank you for sharing your stories. They will not
be forgotten.
I also believe that those individuals who perpetrated those
crimes should never see the light of day; they should fry in
Hell. Murder, rape, some of those most heinous crimes that can
ever be committed against a human being, it leaves scars to the
survivors that never go away.
Back home in Orange County a dozen years ago I came home
from work and came home to a number of police cars and
helicopters surrounding an apartment building right across the
street from where I am living. Went to find out what was going
on. I soon realized that a rapist had been caught right in the
middle of his act, raping a woman in the laundry room.
This young man decided to dash off. Took off through my
neighborhood. They finally caught him. Found out through DNA
and other instruments that he had raped at least 20 women, all
undocumented in the area. These are the women who actually
stepped up to testify that they had been violated, that they
had been raped.
This is an American citizen who was preying on those that
are undocumented.
Sheriff Boudreaux., I know you are very--when I was a young
man picking oranges and plums, I did stuff for a living in your
area. In your area there is a lot of undocumented farm workers,
honest, hard-working individuals that support the local
economy, farm worker economy in that area. Farmers rely on
them. Your economy relies on them.
I would imagine you wouldn't be supporting mass deportation
of undocumented workers in that area. I would imagine you would
probably be more interested in an ordinary way of vetting
individuals looking to work here honestly with a Green Card.
What would you support, sir?
Sheriff Boudreaux. A lot of that goes outside my purview
because my focus is public safety. What I can say is this.
Mr. Correa. Sure.
Sheriff Boudreaux. Were you going to comment?
Mr. Correa. No, sir. Please, continue.
Sheriff Boudreaux. What I would say is this: What we are
finding is that we are having victims at all levels, those who
are here illegally and those who are here on work visas. We are
finding that more and more of the violent, either cartels, gang
members, are coming into the area intimidating and terrorizing
those that you speak of, those that are working--
Mr. Correa. I sit on Homeland Security, so we are working
on a lot of these issues, trying to coordinate with other
countries around the world to make sure that these folks that
commit crimes in other countries don't come here to do the
same.
Sheriff Boudreaux. If I could say this?
Mr. Correa. Go ahead.
Sheriff Boudreaux. I have said this often, Mexico is not
our enemy. Mexico is an ally of the United States. Who our
enemy is the cartels and the human traffickers.
Mr. Correa. Couldn't agree with you more.
Sheriff Boudreaux. Drug traffickers.
Mr. Correa. Couldn't agree with you more.
Sheriff Boudreaux. I believe that we need to secure the
border so that we can vet those coming in, so that we can have
those working on work visas, as you mentioned, in our
agricultural community. We have lots of people there that are
here illegally, living peacefully.
Mr. Correa. Let me in my last minute, we will talk more
later on. I think everybody in this Committee would probably be
in favor of a secure border with a system to let those that are
looking for good, honest work, have the opportunity to find
opportunities in America, just like our forefathers did.
I look forward to continuing to work with you, sir, and
others. I have a very good relationship with Sheriff Barnes in
Orange County.
Sheriff Boudreaux. Yes.
Mr. Correa. A great man. It is a mess. Eighty percent of
the women by the time they get to our border from Central
America are raped or sexually assaulted. Horrible statistic.
These are a lot of young girls as has been described today.
We have a lot of work to do. In my opinion it is not a
Democrat or Republican issue. I hope all of us here can figure
out how to work together because these solutions have been
proposed, we just can't get them implemented.
Thank you much, Mr. Chair. I yield.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from California is recognized.
Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My good friend from California is one of the more moderate
Republic--Democrats. I appreciate his friendship. In this case
he is just dead wrong.
We had 10, 12, 14 million illegals in this country before
this President came in, and we hadn't been able to clear them
out in years. We hadn't been able to get them vetted into jobs,
including the two million jobs in agriculture that my farmers
say they want.
This President and this Vice President have allowed more
than 12 million additional illegals to come into this country.
They come disproportionately, not from Mexico, as you know,
they come from some of the worst places on earth.
I have been at the border. I am a border Congressman with
over 80 miles of border in my district, the busiest land port
anywhere in the United States. You know what? Every time I go
there and lead a trip to the border what I see are Venezuelans,
Afghans, Syrians, Russians, and the list goes on, Chinese.
Yes, Mexico is our ally but Mexico is an ally that violates
international law by allowing these people to come in without
visas. If you are Chinese you cannot go to Turkey without a
visa, unless you say you are going to America and have no visa.
From Turkey when you come to Mexico City, you cannot land there
and not be immediately pushed out without a visa unless you say
that you are going to the United States and have no visa. Then,
they sweep you all the way to the border. That has to change.
For the mothers who lost their children here today, I will
tell you it would have been avoidable. It would have been
avoidable if we had the mass deportation of people illegally
here.
Dwight David Eisenhower was one of the most moderate
members that has ever served as a President. He was also the
Commander-in-Chief, and before that he was a five-star general.
He understood that laws need to be enforced.
We are not enforcing the law. We have over 22 million
illegals and we still have shortages of farm labor, as Mr.
Correa would say. We have that because nobody has been told if
you want to come here we will give you a visa to come here to
be a farmer.
By the way, that is not a Green Card. A Green Card is a
pathway to citizenship. My colleagues on the other side of the
aisle for my 24, this is my 24th year I have served here, for
24 years they have talked about wanting reform. Every time they
want a reform it is like that cockamamie thing that was going
to come out of the Senate where you could do 5,000 people a
day. If the President objected, if he objected, you could slow
things down. That is not a solution.
Now, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are
calling this a stunt. This isn't as stunt. This is the fourth
year of an administration that has willfully allowed people to
come here with no vetting whatsoever again, and again, and
again. They know it. The border czar, now Presidential
Candidate, was the first person assigned the job and hasn't yet
done it, just as she was the last person in the room before the
withdrawal from Afghanistan.
So, I will tell you, I am going to ask you a question,
Sheriff, that is pure law enforcement, and it is something I
would like to hear your opinion on.
In my district we had a hearing just a week ago. We had one
of our mothers explaining how her child came to be confronted
by illegal adult males trying to force themselves onto a school
bus. Because they had come illegally, and if you can come
illegally in the U.S., why can't you also illegally get onto a
school bus and make them take you where you want to go? In my
home district they couldn't figure out where a law was broken.
Can you help me figure out how something so wrong can, in
fact, not find a crime to charge these people with under State
law?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Well, I can't answer to the law
enforcement in the area. We support law enforcement. I know
that you do as well.
Mr. Issa. I love my D.A. She let me down.
I like my sheriff, but I can't figure out how you could not
come up with a charge. I know one thing, if I try to push my
way onto a bus, a school bus, somebody will figure out a way to
charge me.
Sheriff Boudreaux. I would figure out a way to charge you.
In California, in my county, we would figure out a way to
charge you.
Mr. Issa. There are laws for a reason, and we have safety
for those reasons. When you don't enforce the laws, safety is
no longer in existence.
To all the brave parents who came here to talk about their
losses, the only thing you can tell by many of us up here on
the dais that are not--I tend to be a pretty laid back member
after so many years, and I don't yell and scream, but I am
animated today about your losses and the fact that they will
continue until we change how we do business.
It won't be with the people across the aisle until we can
actually bring them to understand we can't have 22 million
people here. We will need a mass deportation. The priority, of
course, should be criminal aliens. It should be people
unvetted. It should be those 1.4 million who have already been
ordered deported, none of whom have been sent out.
Mr. Chair, thank you for your indulgence. I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized.
Mr. Bishop. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My objective in my five minutes, which is not much, is to
hear from the moms. Before I do, I just want to take a trip
down memory lane.
Kate Steinle, does anybody know her name? Kate Steinle? She
used to be a stark outlier. She was shot on a pier in San
Francisco in 2015. It was accidental, I think they said. Sort
of an occasion, sort of a freak encounter with an illegal
alien.
Now, we have a hearing in front of us today in which I
think I counted five dead. I think I got four brutal sexual
assaults, a couple of those children. Lincoln Riley's murder
seems to have announced this phase.
In my own community a Guatemalan was arrested in rural
Gaston County on an Interpol warrant for a child rape.
A Honduran was charged with murder one in Mecklenburg
County, Charlotte, where I am from, arrested in Houston.
In July a Honduran illegal 18-year-old with a 16-year-old
undisclosed identity went on a random shooting spree in
Charlotte, North Carolina, killing one person, injuring a
number of people. It was an MS-13 gang initiation, we heard.
We are hearing about Aurora, Colorado, apartment buildings
being taken over by a local Venezuelan gang.
Eric Swalwell can laugh about it if he wants to because he
thinks it is funny. You hear in the report the guy is standing
in front of a city council talking about migrant, Haitian
migrants dumped, like 20,000 of them dumped on one small
community in Ohio picking up ducks to eat, and killing cats to
eat them. I don't know if this happened. We will find out. They
denied the Aurora thing at first, right, too.
Witnesses have come before Committees I have been on and
they have talked about hyper violence.
To the ladies, Ms. Lopez and Dr. Mendez, with all due
respect, conditions are not the same in the United States as in
the countries from which people are fleeing. That is why they
are fleeing. If you replicate the conditions in those
communities, what will you have solved. Where will people flee?
Here is the thing. When I was elected in a special election
in September 2019, in October I went to the border. It was calm
and quiet. There was one asylum seeker at the port of entry I
went to. Because in May all hell had broken loose and the Trump
Administration had responded with the Migrant Protection
Protocols, Remain in Mexico. It crushed the number of people
coming in. It stopped the overwhelming flow.
So, the question I have for the moms, and I am going to ask
you one by one, do you think it is getting worse? Do you think
it can get even worse than it is now?
Ms. Nobles?
Ms. Nobles. Yes, most definitely. We are seeing more and
more cases every day, a lot, way too many.
Mr. Bishop. Ms. Fundner?
Ms. Fundner. Yes, absolutely. I acknowledge that every year
it gets larger and larger, the deaths. This is on American
soil. We have 300,000 people dead since 2021 under the Biden-
Harris Administration. It is just growing. We expect it to be
much bigger this year.
We have reports that they are underreporting right now. I
am not surprised, because it is embarrassing.
Yes, absolutely it is getting worse. It is 100 percent
getting worse.
Mr. Bishop. Ms. Morin?
Ms. Morin. Yes. I think that if things continue, we are
going to have a war on our soil. I think that this is a
security risk for our country.
The reason why I think that is because people are turning a
blind eye to what is actually going on. That allows these
unvetted criminals to come into our country, set up camp in all
different States.
I was just telling one of the gentlemen here that I was at
the border. I met some folks at the border. I saw who lives at
the border.
I was also up in New England a week ago and I was surprised
at the amount of immigrants from the Congo, and from Sudan, and
from South America in Northern New England. That is unheard of.
In Massachusetts they have spent over $1.5 billion to--
Mr. Bishop. I want to save about 30 seconds for Ms.
Nungaray. So, give me 30 seconds.
Ms. Morin. Oh, OK. All right, but yes.
Mr. Bishop. I didn't mean to cut you off, Ms. Morin. Quite
to the contrary.
Ms. Nungaray, how about you, is it getting worse and do you
think it can get worse than it is?
Ms. Nungaray. I do believe, yes, it is getting worse. It
will continue to get worse if we do not use every detention
center facility bed to detain them until their Immigration
Court hearings to confirm and make sure for us U.S. citizens
that we will be safe with letting new individuals in this
country.
Because they are taking our future, our children. They are
taking people who are supposed to be making a difference in
this world. It will get worse if we don't make a difference.
Mr. Bishop. I am going to fire off one more question.
They told us that there are about 2,500 children who were
separated from their parents when we heard all the uproar about
that. Now, I understand that there are 300,000 children who are
disconnected, gone missing. What about that?
Ms. Aguirre. To me it clearly says that there is more worry
about immigrants' well-being than Americans' well-being. That
is troubling because they would rather comfort migrants by not
putting them through the process of getting them vetting, and
that means staying in a detention center while that vetting
process is taking place in an asylum hearing; right?
So, they are willing to jeopardize American lives in the
process. So, it almost, they have these back-room arrangements
where they are, OK, well, we might lose some American lives,
some of them might be criminals, and we are willing to gamble
with the Americans' public safety.
That is where we are at right now. Because people need to
understand that.
I, personally, am not against migration. I am against
unvetted migration. Because, as you said, these migrants are
fleeing from something, and here we are creating the same
environments here in the United States soil that they are
fleeing from.
It is astonishing to me how many of these victims are
actually also asylum seekers that are victims of their own
migrants that are there with them in these groups that are
being housed together. It is very troubling to me because it is
not good for anybody.
Mr. Bishop. I join you. I think it is getting worse and it
can get worse.
Mr. Chair, I yield.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back.
I apologize. We are going to have to take another recess.
There are two votes on the floor. I will try to get back ASAP.
You can take a break, and we will be back as quick as we can.
The Committee stands in recess.
[Recess.]
Chair Jordan. The Committee will come to order.
The gentlelady from North Carolina is recognized for five
minutes.
Ms. Ross. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First, I want to thank all the witnesses for speaking with
us today. I know several of you had to travel here. Thank you
for taking the effort to share your stories with us. They are
truly heartbreaking.
I want to extend my condolences to the witnesses who have
lost family members to criminal activity. I am an attorney--I
have been a champion for against violence, against women, and
have tried to work to do everything that I can in all
communities, but also in immigrant communities, to make sure
that we stop the scourge of violence against women.
I stand with my colleagues for any way that we can do
bipartisan work in this area.
I also want to point out I am from North Carolina, so we
are not a border State. We have had incidences of illegal
immigrants who have killed not just innocent victims, but also
members of law enforcement. We are celebrating the anniversary
of that tragedy in my district right now.
Immigration doesn't happen in a vacuum. It is a result of a
lot of forces that push people from their native countries and
pull them to ours. Perhaps one of the greatest forces is our
American labor market. I appreciate the comments of Mr.
Boudreaux, understanding that there are labor issues in this
country that bring people here, and that opportunity.
Our economy relies on foreign workers and to fill some
jobs, particularly in times of low unemployment. That is one of
the times that we are having right now.
Migrants, the ones who don't perpetrate these horrible
crimes, take a lot of risks traveling to the United States to
seek a better life because they know their labor is needed.
Employers in my own district are begging for legal pathways
that have the kinds of background checks and review that I know
you are asking for.
This is particularly in the agricultural area, as we have
discussed, and also in construction.
I am 100 percent for checking everybody out when they come
to the border.
However, excessive criminalization of immigration inhibits
labor flow. To only focus on that side keeps us from being able
to do the kinds of background checks that we need to do. What
has happened that we have seen, particularly in the
agricultural community, is that seasonal workers in decades
past who could come temporarily, now feel like they have to
stay the entire time to do the work that they want to do
because they don't have that free flow back and forth.
The criminalization of immigration and the increasingly
limited legal channels to come to the United States,
particularly for seasonal jobs, has led to a growth in criminal
enterprises. We have discussed that. We absolutely must crack
down on those criminal enterprises.
Those criminal enterprises result in human trafficking,
drug trafficking, and trafficking in firearms. They hurt the
immigrants. They hurt our citizens. They hurt the fabric of our
communities.
So, I agree with my colleagues who have said that
comprehensive immigration reform would address all these
issues--the issues at the border, the issues with trafficking,
and then the issues in our labor force--if we could create more
legal pathways and ways to create an incentive to check
people's backgrounds before they come to the United States.
Legal pathways would also ensure that migrants coming to
work in the U.S. are completely vetted before they are able to
integrate into our communities and would allow their skills and
labor to fill the needs that we have and, hopefully, reduce
crime in the future.
My first question is for Ms. Lopez. I only have 15 seconds.
To the extent that you are able, can you comment on the
typical employment prospects of many migrants?
Would you describe the contributions that they make to the
local communities they settle?
Ms. Lopez. Sure. I can tell you that the biggest impediment
for them is obtaining work authorization. Currently, there are
significant backlogs in the processing of those applications.
However, the majority of them when they do find, are able
to obtain work authorization, they do tend to work in lower
income fields. Typically, agriculture is a very common example.
We have a lot of people, not very many of the immigrants
actually stay in El Paso, the vast majority leave El Paso. They
tend to, we see them settle in North Carolina, South Carolina,
other places where there is agricultural work.
Then we also see a lot of people who have advanced degrees
and then are able to get those recognized in the United States
and continue on with their being a doctor, or a nurse, or any
of that type of work as well.
Ms. Ross. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for allowing me the extra time.
Mr. Bishop. [Presiding.] My home State colleague yields
back.
I recognize the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Fitzgerald.
Mr. Fitzgerald. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you all for being here today. I was able to hear each
one of your presentations. I know it is a long and gut-
wrenching day to be here, but so thank you very much for that.
Mr. Biggs, Mr. Issa, and I was just in the San Diego Sector
Thursday. I had been there before. One of the facilities that
they want Members of Congress to be able to see is where the
9th Circuit keeps all the evidence from the cases that are
pending before that court. They call it The Vault.
It is just mind boggling when you are in there because
there is so much fentanyl that is being smuggled across the
border. Specifically in the San Diego sector, 60 percent they
are estimating--not my numbers, this is what DOJ is saying--60
percent of all the fentanyl is coming through that San Diego
sector.
So, I wanted to kind of focus on that and kind of respond
to some stuff that was said earlier about there is no real
legislation kind of that brings us here today.
Ms. Fundner, your son Weston, and unfortunately, I know it
is difficult for law enforcement to kind of track down, I just
want to ask you was there any success in finding out where your
son ended up getting the fentanyl that ultimately took his
life?
Ms. Fundner. Yes, they know where he got it. They know who
gave it to him. It is on camera, and it is on text. The case
was dismissed.
Mr. Fitzgerald. So, in the other cases in my State in
Wisconsin where there are parents that find themselves in the
same situation that you do. That has been part of it. So, the
trafficking and how it makes its way across the States.
So, let me just bring that back together again because 66
percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids, the
fentanyl stuff, is not permanently designated as a Schedule I
narcotic. This is something that is just still unbelievable to
me, that we passed in the House last year a bill that would
permanently designate that. I think this could make all the
difference in the world.
Ms. Fundner. Absolutely.
Mr. Fitzgerald. Unfortunately, it has become a partisan
vote as well, which makes no sense.
So, if I could turn to the Sheriff. Sheriff, can you just
give me an overview of how Schedule I is viewed?
Do you think that would make a significant difference in
the way law enforcement is able to handle fentanyl as it
continues to pour across the border?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Well, the drugs listed under Schedule I,
obviously, are the most egregious and dangerous to the human
body without strict regulation from physicians and/or those who
would be able to oversee Schedule I type drugs, for one.
When you talk about how, if I can touch into the fentanyl
coming into our country, obviously, China is working with the
cartels. That is how it is coming in, stamped in Mexico and
then freely coming across the Biden-Harris open and unsecure
border into our country.
In my county alone, and up and down California, we had over
150,000 fentanyl pills in a traffic stop where two illegal
immigrants were released under California law, where they were
off into the wind and never to be seen again.
I tell that story because it is not uncommon to law
enforcement all up and down California and across the country.
That is how this fentanyl, this dangerous fentanyl is getting
into the United States.
Having said that, under a Schedule I, it would get far more
Federal regulation and/or a sting and the bite into prosecution
and those being held accountable for jail time. It would send a
very strong message to hold people accountable for the
dangerous, deadly fentanyl that is impacting American citizens.
Mr. Fitzgerald. Thank you very much.
Chair, I would just like to reiterate again what we are
hearing at the border when we talk to the Border Patrol.
Oftentimes, they are saying that it is the trafficking, it is
the smuggling of the narcotics across the border that
absolutely is linked to every other aspect of those that are
coming across illegally.
So, it is the basis of a lot of the organized crime that is
actually being utilized right now to make all this happen.
So, I think we bring the bill back. We focus on this. We
pass it through the Committee. We get it back on the floor of
the House.
I yield back.
Mr. Bishop. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Indiana, Ms.
Spartz.
Ms. Spartz. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to know, Sheriff, I was looking at a little
bit at your bio. You are a native of California and spent
almost 40 years as a sheriff. So, you have a very long history
perspective and how changed California and what has really
happened at the border.
What do you believe from your perspective, if you look at
this historically, and where we are right now, what things have
worked?
Obviously, we have no border security. We have completely
broken immigration system where if you are here illegally you
get a lot of benefits. You are just approved in a lot of
welfare; it really becomes problematic to really support our
own citizens.
If you want to try to something legal it is almost
impossible becoming to immigrate to our country. There is a
long line and really very unreasonable and I would say very
stupid immigration policy.
From the border security perspective, what have you seen
work, what hasn't worked?
You have worked under a variety of administrations,
Republicans and Democrats. What could you share with us that
you think is important and where we are right now, and what you
think are the urgent needs that Congress needs to address?
Sheriff Boudreaux. Yes. Quite frankly, I don't feel that it
is all that complicated. I feel that it is pretty reasonable:
We have a strong and secure border that we are able to vet
those who are coming and going; that we provide the opportunity
for people to come into this country through the legal system
which we have had for years.
There are laws in place that just need to be adhered to and
obeyed. We find that the drug activity, and transportation and
trafficking of drugs, guns, and human beings across the border
is less.
Will it completely eliminate it? No. That is just part of
crime and criminal activity.
We will have a controllable handle on it if we enforce the
laws that are currently in place, and that we get rid of the
most egregious and felonious people causing harm to American
citizens, holding them accountable.
If you are bringing fentanyl into this country and people
die, you need to be held accountable.
If you are bringing human beings into this country and you
are using them for a sex trade or gaining criminal--making
money through criminal means by trafficking humans, you must be
held accountable. I believe there should be Federal laws that
if you are trafficking young children for the purposes of sex
trafficking or any other means, or any other human being for
that matter, that there should be a Federal law that you are
held in Federal prison for whatever determinate amount of time
that is so that a message is sent very clearly to those who are
doing that.
If you hold people accountable, if you enforce the laws
that are in place you will see a drastic reduction in the
amount of people killed by fentanyl, the amount of cartels that
are involved in coming across the border into our country. You
will actually have immigrants that are here living peacefully,
working in this country with the idea of chasing the American
dream.
I do not think it is complicated.
Ms. Spartz. Thank you. I agree with you. Unfortunately, we
haven't seen it, and especially in the recent years.
If you would look at some things, what Congress is doing,
because they are really the most important power, we have this
power of the purse; right? We set out policies and we give
direction. The Executive Branch should follow these directions.
Funding is the way for us to actually hold the other branch
accountable. We haven't been doing our job very well--not just
very well, it is terrible.
I always say the only good thing that makes me optimistic
that Congress has, what, about 12 percent approval rating. So,
American people can see there is some hope.
From some of the things, what do you think are the most
important things if we look at the funding, and maybe someday
Congress will have a funding discussion. We haven't had it for
a while. We just do CRs and presentations.
What do you think are the most important things?
Because we heard some very tragic stories, with real
consequences, real lives affected because of negligence and
disregard of duty by Executive Branch. What do you think things
that Congress should maybe take a look, looking at the funding,
and other things, that we try to force the other branch
actually enforcing the laws?
Sheriff Boudreaux. I believe that law enforcement across
the country should be supported. The idea of defunding the
police is one of the most ridiculous things that I have ever
heard in my 38 years of law enforcement. We must support law
enforcement at every level.
What that means is, on the border we need to spend money to
make sure that we have a strong and secure border.
If you are asking me my opinion, and I am only law
enforcement, but common sense is something that I pride myself
in, I would argue that if infrastructure was put in place that
you had enough people along the border in regard to the
judicial process, providing as many judges as you can, as well
as possibly an incarceration facility to hold people in custody
if they are coming across the border outside the means of the
legal system, that you have enough resources at the border that
you can actually keep it from becoming this funnel that
everyone is so worried about in not being able to get into this
country.
If you use the purse strings to help support resources
along the border with infrastructure as well as people, that we
would eliminate some of the issues that we, quite frankly, are
facing in this country right now.
Ms. Spartz. Thank you.
I yield back.
Mr. Bishop. The gentlelady yields back.
Sheriff Boudreaux., I want to say Tulare County must be
very proud of you. You have in two quick two-minute speeches
you have about distilled this area more effectively than maybe
anybody I have ever heard.
I understand that you have a flight to catch and need to
leave the Committee by in about within five minutes. So, you
are dismissed to leave at your discretion.
Thank you, sir, for being here.
With that, I recognize the gentleman from Virginia, Mr.
Cline, for five minutes.
Mr. Cline. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses for being here today.
To the Sheriff, Ms. Fundner, Ms. Morin, Ms. Nungaray, and
Ms. Nobles, I listened to your testimony and our hearts are
with you. It is a difficult task to discuss the loss of your
children. This Committee appreciates your presence and
recognizes how difficult it truly is.
As to Ms. Nungaray, as the father of twin 12-year-old
daughters my heart was especially touched by your testimony.
Thank you.
This Biden-Harris Administration's failed immigration
policy, the border crisis created by this administration
continues to harm communities across not just the Southern
border but across the country. Having traveled to the border
three different times, twice to Texas, once to Yuma, Arizona,
we not only got to see the impact that it had on those
communities but how every community is impacted.
We talked to farmers whose crops were invaded by illegals
who were camping in the fields in Yuma. If anybody has been to
a convenience store in the middle of winter and turned over a
ready-made salad and looked at the bottom, it says ``Made in
Yuma.'' So, not only are you dealing with food supply issues,
food price issues, but also farmer costs.
Then we went to a hospital and NICU. The NICU directors
talked about how many of their NICU beds are filled with
migrants because it is a dangerous journey. Women are assaulted
on the trip up. They are often pregnant by the time they arrive
at the border. They don't have prenatal care. They are often
delivering prematurely and have to take up those NICU beds.
If you are a citizen of the United States and you are in
Yuma, Arizona, and you need a NICU bed, you are traveling to
Phoenix, a couple hours away.
Talking about the education system and the need for ESL
teachers, and the impact on the tax rates, and the
transportation, and the housing costs. This is a humanitarian
crisis but also a crisis at the border. It is also a crisis
across the country in communities like mine, which is thousands
of miles away in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Having been a prosecutor, I worked with a county that had
an ICE agreement so that when illegals were arrested for
committing crimes, they were tried, they were jailed, but the
day they got out of jail they didn't go walk the streets of
Harrisonburg, they were taken by ICE to the airport and they
were sent back.
To any of you who would like to answer, why should everyday
Americans care about the border crisis even if they are
thousands of miles away from the Southwest border in places
like Virginia?
Ms. Aguirre?
Ms. Aguirre. I can tell you that all the people sitting
here today didn't choose this path. Tragedy struck them without
choice.
Alexis had no idea that was going to be the last day she
was going to have her daughter, alongside these other mothers.
So, whether or not you want to take notice of what is going on
at the border, it might come knocking at your front door.
Mr. Gonzalez when he left to work that day had no idea that
was going to be the last moment that he saw his daughter alive.
The next time he was going to see her was at the medical
examiner's office identifying her body.
So, whether you are Republican or whether you are a
Democrat, the criminal element of the immigration population do
not care.
Mr. Cline. Yes.
Ms. Aguirre. They are going to inflict their criminal ways
on our communities regardless.
Not even mentioning any of the financial things that you
just mentioned, which are important, my primary focus is the
preservation of life.
Mr. Cline. Right.
Ms. Aguirre. Right? Quality of life.
I am just besides myself that we prioritize giving a
complete stranger who has never contributed to our society a
chance at the likelihood that they may or may not harm a U.S.
citizen.
Mr. Cline. Yes.
Ms. Aguirre. Or, in my case, a little girl who was also a
migrant.
Mr. Cline. All you have to do if you are in any part of the
country and have a relationship with your law enforcement
officers, go talk to them. Because, as Sheriff Boudreaux said,
Even my sheriffs in rural Virginia can tell you when they pull
over an unmarked van on the interstate highway and find sex
trafficking, human trafficking, and minors being abused.
That is happening right in our backyard.
So, we have a responsibility to protect the citizens of our
districts just as we do to ensure that you can be protected in
your homes as well.
So, with that, Mr. Chair, I thank you. I thank the
witnesses again.
I yield back.
Mr. Bishop. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentlelady from Wyoming, Ms.
Hageman.
Ms. Hageman. Thank you.
There are a couple of statements that I would like to make.
Then, I would like to give you an opportunity to make a
statement about why you are here and give voice to the victims
that you are representing here so beautifully.
First, the Senate bill is not a border hardening bill, as
you have pointed out. In fact, it would allow a minimum of
5,000 illegals to cross the border every single day without any
enforcement whatsoever.
I come from the State of Wyoming. Under the bill that has
been proposed by the Senate, every two weeks we would have a
minimum of 70,000 people crossing the border. That is more than
the entire population of the largest city in the State of
Wyoming.
So, I agree with you, that is not a border security bill.
There has also been a comment made that we are not here
talking any particular bill. That is not actually true. In
fact, this week I am leading a bipartisan coalition of House
Members to introduce what is called the Fight Illicit Pill
Presses Act, a bill which requires serial numbers for pill
presses, that prescribes penalties for tampering with pill
processes.
These pill presses are one of the methods by which
traffickers are disguising lethal doses of fentanyl to look
like other pills. This bill will help law enforcement better
track and punish those responsible for distributing these pills
into the country. So, we are working at trying to find a
solution.
I have listened to your stories today. I have watched your
body language. I have watched as you have engaged with various
Members of this Committee. I think what I would really like to
do is give you the opportunity, each one of you who has been,
who has suffered these terrible tragedies because of the crimes
of illegal aliens, I would like to give you just a few minutes
to describe your family member. What is the message that you
would give to the Biden-Harris and Mayorkas Administration?
Ms. Nungaray, I am going to start with you.
Ms. Nungaray. Well, my daughter was definitely her own
personality. She wasn't like any other child. She was spunky,
quirky, was an amazing friend, an amazing friend. I have had
the pleasure of hugging so many of them because they just miss
her so much.
She had a love for animals. Her dream was to save every
stray animal and take care of them. She didn't want any animals
to be left out in the world, left out in the streets without a
home.
She was a kid, a preteen, a few months shy of being a
teenager, doing what teenagers do. We have all been there.
I wasn't expecting to wake up and not find my daughter. I
really wasn't expecting to not find her and realize she was
never going to come home again.
Ms. Hageman. She won't be forgotten.
Ms. Nungaray. Thank you.
Mr. Hageman. She won't be forgotten.
Ms. Nungaray. We need better security. We need to make sure
we are looking into who we are letting in.
They were both reprehended and released the same exact days
for both of them. The last one was not even three weeks. It
took my daughter's life; they took my daughter's life. Because
of these policies we have in place it is the pain and the
trauma is irreversible.
So, now I am here to advocate for her. As much as I am not
a public speaker, I am standing strong and facing my fears for
Jocelyn.
Thank you.
Ms. Hageman. Thank you.
Ms. Morin.
Ms. Morin. Thank you.
Rachel was a tiny little girl. She was probably five feet.
She always said 5,2", but we knew she was five feet.
She was feisty. She was like a little spitfire. She was
actually born with orange hair, very red. She didn't like her
red hair too much, so she always bleached it blond.
She was very active. She loved her children. She had a very
bad stammering problem, and as a child she was bullied a lot
because of her speech.
So, I told her a story when she was a little girl. I said,
``You know that there was another person that was very famous,
and he had a stutter, a stammering problem?'' I told her the
story of Moses.
Mr. Hageman. Uh-huh.
Ms. Morin. I told her that God gives special people special
gifts because it makes them stronger. So, she looked at it not
as an impediment, impediment, as a handicap. She looked it as
that was her strength.
So, she went out of her way to be outgoing and to choose
jobs like a hostess at a restaurant where she put herself in
the public way to speak. She ended up making so many friends. I
think when we had the walk there was over 2,000 people that
came out for her walk the first time.
She also was very compassionate and kind toward others
because she knew what it was like to be bullied. So, she
accepted people for the way they were.
I am here today to speak about her, but also to speak about
all the women that are attacked that aren't killed. Because I
have done some speaking, I have a lot of ladies that come up to
me in the areas that I have traveled, and they will tell me
that where they have been attacked. Someone will come up from
behind them and try to put them in a, what is it, choke hold.
They will fight to get away.
One person, in particular, said that she was able to get
away from this particular man. Went to the police to report it,
and it turned out that the man had attacked seven other women.
Ms. Hageman. Oh my.
Ms. Morin. Nobody hears these stories because there is not
a dead person, or maybe the crime hasn't been fully committed.
So, there are still crimes that are going on far larger
than we expect that are being unreported.
So, I really want Rachel's life to make a difference. I
really want and hope that you take into consideration what we
are saying because we want to save lives.
It is not about politics. It is not about if you are a
Republican or if you are a Democrat, it is about being
American, protecting our families. The only way we are going to
do that and have this really be a land of opportunity for both
the American citizen and for the immigrant that wants to come
in, is to do it legally and to have people vetted before they
come into our country. We should be protecting ourselves.
Chair Jordan. [Presiding.] The time of the gentlelady has
expired.
We will let Ms. Fundner and Ms. Nobles give a quick
response, if you could, to the gentlelady's question. Then, we
have two more Members to question.
Ms. Fundner. The Biden-Harris Administration is doing
nothing. The fentanyl problem is such an issue. It is pouring
over our borders. It is killing more people in America, more
young people in America than any other ailment in the country.
It is killing children.
It is nothing that is being done about it. There is no
excuse or no reason why we are not doing something. Three
hundred thousand Americans have died. I have said it so many
times. It is a war on our soil, and nothing is being done.
Why aren't we securing the borders? Why aren't we going
after the cartels? Why aren't we telling China shut down your
factories, this is not OK? Why isn't fentanyl, aside from
Schedule I, it is a weapon of mass destruction. There are
things that can be done with this. It is just this fentanyl it
is insanity that they will not shut the borders down.
It is killing our children. It is killing more children and
more people in this country than anything else right now. It is
an epidemic. It needs to be dealt with. There is no excuse why
they haven't done anything.
Chair Jordan. Ms. Nobles, if you would like to give a brief
response.
Ms. Nobles. I believe that the Biden-Harris Administration
is responsible. He, Kayla's murderer, came over as a UAC,
unaccompanied alien child, saying that he was scared of gang
activity in his country, knowing that he was an MS-13 gang
member.
Chair Jordan. Uh-huh.
Ms. Nobles. Kayla was a very loving, happy girl. She loved
to help. She wanted to help the homeless. She loved animals.
She worked so hard to become independent with having
autism. She could live on her own. I made sure she could live
on her own. I would never have let her live on her own if I
knew she couldn't do it. She worked so hard to overcome all the
obstacles in her life. This monster just ripped her life out.
After all that hard work, her life was just snuffed out just
like that.
Ms. Hageman. I am sorry. Your voices are being heard.
Thank you. With that, I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady yields back.
I believe we just have four more. I'll go with Mr. Van
Drew, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Hunt, and Mr. Rulli, and then, again, I
apologize for the long day and the breakup, but we'll go as
quickly as we can here.
The gentleman from New Jersey?
Mr. Van Drew. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
To our witnesses here today I am sorry for your pain. I
can't say that I know what it feels like as a father and now a
grandfather. I don't.
Nobody will ever know. People shouldn't even say that, in
my mind. I am sorry, though, and there's no words I can say.
The worst of all this is it didn't have to be this way. I
hear crocodile tears. I hear people they should rot in hell.
They should this and that.
We can fix this, and it should have been fixed and it
wasn't this way, names like Lakin, Weston, Rachel, and Kayla.
Human souls, human beings that were raped, that were murdered,
that were disfigured, that were tortured and thrown away like
garbage.
This is because, and I'm going to say it, of the Harris-
Biden failure. Everybody can say what they want to over there
and I'm going to talk about that in a minute, and I'm sad to
say this because I don't want to be mean. I do not want to be
partisan.
I'm simply telling you the truth. The truth is tens of
thousands of Americans are being killed by fentanyl and you
know it--I don't have to repeat all the testimony that you all
gave--and the drug flows freely through our borders.
The truth is in Aurora, Colorado, gangs of Venezuelans are
taking over apartment buildings and extorting rent from people.
Think how scared those people are. They're having to pay them
money so they can live safely in their own home.
The truth is in Ohio Haitian migrants are beheading the
ducks in public parks and yes, it's weird. It is weird, but we
didn't bring that weirdness here. We didn't bring that
distorted behavior here, but it's forced on a small town in
Ohio when 30,000 illegals have been pushed on them by the
Federal Government.
The truth is that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden let these
people in. You all remember when the administration changed,
and they had t-shirts on at the other side of the border--
Kamala Harris t-shirts and Joe Biden t-shirts.
There was a reason for that. It is telling the truth time
for a change. Who rescinded the Executive Orders, the Executive
Orders that Donald Trump had put in that were there to protect
us?
Who wouldn't finish the wall? Who wouldn't keep the Remain
in Mexico policy? Who instituted catch and release into our
country? Who let Title 42 lapse with no replacement at all?
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. When you do wrong you have to
own up to it and be blamed, and when our party--and I hope you
look at old videos from the past because this is not the only
hearing we have had. We have had these hearings all across the
country.
When we brought these concerns up the left laughed at us
and they said that we're fabricating stories and that we were
being political. This is the end result of what they did.
I pray to God, and I mean this--I pray every single day,
and I'm not giving you a political speech. I pray to God that
Americans see and know this truth. They trusted our government.
They trusted them to protect us from foreign threats.
Their trust was shattered and was destroyed by that
administration. Our witnesses today, your stories, that's the
truth. It's the ugly, horrible, sinful truth.
The truth is this administration knowingly, purposefully,
methodically destroyed our protection at the Southern border.
That is the truth.
They may not like it now. It's an election year so now we
care about the border. It's a lot of bull. I'm telling you the
truth.
Month after month we watched, year after year, as millions
of illegal immigrants poured into this country. We watched as
tens of thousands of pounds of fentanyl poured into this
country killing our youth, killing our most vulnerable, good
kids that made sometimes just one mistake, and we watched as
terrorists come into our country.
We have got hundreds of terrorists in our country. We don't
know where the hell they are, what they're doing and what
they're going to do. You know what we watched? Kamala Harris
and Joe Biden do absolutely nothing and welcome it.
Worse than all they encouraged it. They've created this
evil, and it is evil in our country. Not all undocumented are
evil but the process is evil and wrong, and it allows evil to
come in.
You know what? When they asked her--and we all remember.
It's on video. It's not hard to find. They asked her about it.
What did she do? Do you remember?
She laughed. She laughed. She said she hadn't been in
Europe--she hadn't been at the border. She didn't give a damn.
It was a joke. It was funny.
It isn't funny. Your lives will never be the same. That's
not funny. Over here we hear that we're really better and safer
in the country because of illegals and we're even told that
they are better and safer than our own Americans--that our own
Americans commit more crimes, and they've even said it today in
this hearing room. You heard it.
So, I'm going to bring you real quick questions. Ms.
Fundner, if that fentanyl-laced pill hadn't been smuggled
across our border would your son still be here today? Yes or
no?
Ms. Fundner. Yes.
Mr. Van Drew. Ms. Morin, if the man who murdered your
daughter had been stopped at the border would your daughter
still be here today? Yes or no.
Ms. Morin. Yes.
Mr. Van Drew. Ms. Nobles, would your daughter be here today
if an MS-13 gang member with a history of murder was stopped at
our border and sent back to where he came from? Yes or no.
Ms. Nobles. Yes.
Mr. Van Drew. God help us. We must be strong. We can't save
these shattered lives. If we want to do something in their name
that next bill that we finally get through and pass when we
have a new president should be named for all of you and their
lives will still have meaning and your lives have meaning.
Chair, I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from Texas is recognized.
Mr. Nehls. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Well said by my friend here, Mr. Van Drew.
I'd like to thank our witnesses for being here, taking the
time. To the witnesses that have lost a child at the hands of
this crisis, as a father of three I can't fathom what you're
going through and I'm truly sorry for your loss.
Ms. Nungaray, I introduced the House version of the Justice
for Jocelyn Act, which I thank your family. You helped write
it. You helped write it--I want to thank you for that--to honor
the memory of your daughter and make sure preventable deaths of
American citizens at the hands of illegal aliens never happens
again.
It doesn't have to happen and thank you again for your
family's help on that and, again, my apologies. Spend a minute
and share with the Committee how important it is that this
bill, this Justice for Jocelyn Act, that it gets passed.
Ms. Nungaray. I believe it's super important for it to get
passed because we don't know who we're allowing in this
country, and the fact there were hundreds of beds they could
have had them in there was no reason to do the catch and
release.
What we have going on there is no reason for it. They
should have stayed apprehended until their immigration court
hearing.
Mr. Nehls. That's right.
Ms. Nungaray. It's not right. It's not fair. It took an
innocent child from a future. She was supposed to be part of
the future for the next generation and--
Mr. Nehls. Well, I can assure this. You have my commitment.
I think you have the commitment of the Chair and this entire
Judiciary Committee that we're going to move on this. I think
it's the right thing to do. It's very, very important.
Unfortunately, there are countless other victims out there
in the Kamala border crisis that didn't get an opportunity.
They didn't get an opportunity to tell us their story in this
Committee today and our witnesses are far from alone in their
suffering.
Ms. Fundner is not alone in the loss of her son from the
fentanyl. We have talked about the fentanyl and how it's
poisoning our people, the No. 1 cause of death for Americans
18-45.
In 2021, more than 1,500 children died from fentanyl
poisoning. In 2023, fentanyl deaths over a 100,000 and it could
all be prevented. It could all be prevented, and fentanyl is
just one part of the story.
There are many other victims, the countless businesses been
victimized by mass retail theft committed by gangs, rural areas
near the border who fear for their families as illegals
trespass on their property. The New York police officers being
beaten by these mobs of illegal aliens. People who themselves
or other family members assaulted, been robbed, killed by an
illegal alien including those by drunk driving happened when I
was the sheriff of Fort Bend County before I came up here.
I had illegal--and the knucklehead, after we caught him, we
find out he was deported six previous times. How the hell do
you get deported six previous times?
Because you just go back and forth. Easy peasy for. Hard to
look at a guy. Look at the family of Ms. Boo who was killed by
this illegal and say I'm sorry, but this guy shouldn't be here.
Unacceptable. Reports of the armed Venezuelan gangs of
illegals taking over entire communities--I think you touched on
it, Colorado, that Tren de Aragua--and what's frustrating about
that is the Border Patrol back in September 2022, they knew.
They were alert. Hey, look out for these bad hombres coming out
of Venezuela.
Because what do we know? Back in 2015, Trump was right. I
can remember when he said it. They're not going to send us
their best or their brightest, right? Then Trump is all of a
sudden labeled as this racist because he says it. He goes,
``they're going to send murderers and rapists.'' He's right.
He's right. He's right all the time, quite honestly. He's
certainly right here.
So, I sent a letter to Mayorkas in September 2022,
expressing my concerns about what we're hearing from the Border
Patrol. What kind of response do you think I got from him?
Nothing. I hear nothing.
Now, we go into February 2024, with Lakin Riley, that
wonderful, beautiful nursing student murdered by, again,
another Venezuelan, right. Sent a letter to Mayorkas and what
do you think I get? What do I get back? Nothing. He just
doesn't want to talk about it. He avoids it.
Then, we go to June 2024, Jocelyn Nungaray. Again, two
Venezuelans. Nicolas Maduro is not a dummy. He's not. He sends
all the worst people up here because he knows it's going to
cause chaos for our country, so he embeds them. He sends them
into our country, and this is what we get.
Venezuela--their inflation is over 222 percent. Their
poverty rate is at 50 percent. Why would he want them back? We
can't find out what kind of people these are when they enter
our Southern border. We don't have a relationship with
Venezuela to find out what kind of people these are.
I'll guarantee it, Kamala Harris, you're responsible for
this. Do you know what her position was in the border, really
quick? I'm going to--and then I'm going to finish.
Her campaign positions--pledge to end immigrant detention.
I'm going to taxpayer fund gender care. I'm going to decrease
the funding of ICE and I'm going to end ICE detainers.
The American people are smarter than this, and if we're
going to save our country let's bring Donald Trump back. The
American people are smart enough and we're going to save our
country and secure our border on November 5th. Donald Trump
will do it for all of us because he puts America first. He puts
you first and your families.
God bless you all.
Chair Jordan. The gentlemen yields back.
The gentlemen from Texas is recognized.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I've been joined by the lady from
Vermont. You're recognized for five minutes.
Ms. Balint. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I come here as a new Member of Congress. I was a teacher
prior to that. I have two teenagers myself and I know that
there is nothing that matters more to us as moms as our kids.
Nothing.
So, I want to start there because I know there is
absolutely nothing that any of us can say to alleviate the
suffering that you have been through and continue to endure,
the loss of a child.
Prior to coming into the Committee today I was in a hearing
on the online dangers that girls and teenagers face. I have
committed my life to work on the mental health crisis, the
crisis of loneliness in this country, especially among teens
and young people.
I'm concerned about gun violence prevention. I'm concerned
about solving real problems, and what's been so hard for me
being on this Committee is I come from a State legislature
where people do sit down across the aisle.
They sit down and they solve problems together, and it's
been very frustrating for me when I know coming in here that
this problem, this terrible problem of broken immigration, of
dangers at the border, predates this Congress--predates this
president.
We can go back decades. This is a can that has been kicked
over and over again. Now, again, there's no comfort in that for
any of you. I think what Americans need to be demanding of us--
I don't care what party you are--what they should be demanding
of all of us are real answers to these problems because nobody
should have to bury their child because they've experienced
violence. Nobody should.
So, I guess I want to make a plea honestly. We don't know
who's going to be president come January. We don't know who is
going to be in charge of this chamber, whether it's going to
continue to be the Republicans or be the Democrats. We don't
know.
What we do know is that we as Members of Congress should be
working every single moment of every single day in our
Committees to actually get work done together.
The American people deserve better from all of us, and I
think what pains me the most as a parent who just sent my kids
off to school again in the last two weeks is spending so much
time worrying about the gun violence that they experience in
schools, and I hear from parents all over my district that
they're worried about the safety of their kids.
Again, whether it is the violence at the border, whether it
is a broken immigration system, whether it's gun violence
prevention, I wish that we could stop the grandstanding and
actually sit and do work together.
That's why we're sent here. We are not sent here to serve
any person running for president. I don't care what side of the
aisle you're on. That is not what we're here for, to talk about
your guy or your gal that you want to see in that office.
The American people deserve better from all of us. My
family deserves better from all of us and, again, there is
nothing that I can say to you who have lost your children other
than to say we need to do better, and I make my commitment to
you to do my part to work across the aisle to stop demonizing
each other, to stop demonizing Americans.
I also come to this hearing as the child of an immigrant
who came here for a better life, and I never imagined that I
would be in the halls of Congress as the child of an immigrant.
So, I am holding many stories here as I sit here and I'm
just very deeply, deeply sorry for your loss and I will do
everything that I can in my job to make sure it doesn't happen
again.
I yield back.
Mr. Bishop. [Presiding.] The gentlelady yields back.
The Chair recognizes Mr. Hunt of Texas.
Mr. Hunt. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Today we have family members of victims who were murdered
by illegal aliens who should not have been in this country in
the first place.
I want to start by saying to the victims' mothers--Ms.
Nungaray, Ms. Morin, Ms. Nobles, and Ms. Fundner--how sad I am
for your loss, and I genuinely mean that from the bottom of my
heart.
It takes so much courage for you to stand before us today--
sit before us today, it's been a very long day--and for us to
hear your testimony and for us to hear your stories. It really
warms my heart, and I know that there's bravery left in this
country, and you represent that. You embody that.
Ms. Nungaray, I am a fellow Houstonian, and I want to
especially thank you for being here. Your tragedy hit very
close home to me. Your testimony is heartbreaking.
Two illegal aliens walked across the border, thanks to the
Biden-Harris Administration's open border policies. Within
months of being in this country they took the life of your
young daughter, Jocelyn, which is ridiculous, and I'm a
cosponsor and I'm also a strong supportive of the swift passage
of the Justice for Jocelyn Act, so that no child or parent will
ever have to experience this tragedy again and sit before us in
this hearing room again. Thank you for being here.
A question for you as well, ma'am, if you're open to it. I
would like to give you the opportunity to tell us anything that
you have not mentioned in your testimony about your beautiful
daughter Jocelyn.
Ms. Nungaray. I didn't want to press what she was. She was
a child. I believe all of us as adolescents have done things
our parents wouldn't recommend doing.
We didn't always all listen to our parents and a lot of
kids just want to have fun and a lot of these children really
do believe that they're invincible and they don't know the
harms that they have and that are right in front of them in
this world, and a lot of them are being preyed on.
My daughter really should have felt safe, even if it was
late at night, which she should--she had no business doing--we
know--but she should have been able to walk a couple minutes
from our home and be able to safely get home without having to
be lured somewhere by being the helpful little girl she was.
Was just trying to help them get to wherever it was they were
going, and they took advantage of her.
Mr. Hunt. Thank you.
Again, this touches home to me because I have two
daughters, Olivia and Victoria. If some of this happened to
them, I actually don't know what I would do.
Actually, I have an idea, and I probably wouldn't be in
Congress anymore. So, I understand your frustration, and you're
right, our children should be able to walk these streets safely
no matter what hour, no matter what decisions that they make.
The left keeps saying that statistically Americans commit
more crimes than non-Americans in this country. Well, I'd like
my colleagues on the left to know that these mothers that are
dealing with this understand that's actually not true and, in
fact, police sources told the New York Post that around 75
percent of people arrested in midtown Manhattan, which is not
necessarily a direct border State, in recent months they've
been illegal aliens.
The Federal Government must do everything it can to protect
American citizens. That's actually our sole purpose. That's our
No. 1 job, and we can do that. It's simple. We need to
reestablish the immigration and border policies that worked
under President Trump.
This is not difficult. My colleagues on the left want to
say this is not political and it doesn't matter who your guy or
gal is. Yes, it does. It really does, actually, because if
President Trump were in office right now, we wouldn't be
sitting here.
I don't care what political affiliation that you have.
Those are facts. Kamala Harris wants you to confuse her border
policies, because now she's claiming that she supports Trump's
border policies, and she wants you to believe that she's tough
on the border.
We know that's not true, and as we know that the best
predictor of future performance is past performance.
There's been a lot of talk today about policies. House
Republicans in May of last year passed H.R. 2, the Secure the
Border Act. House Republicans have done our part to attempt to
prevent these tragedies from recurring and happening again, but
the Democrat-led Senate didn't even take up the bill.
If you think things are bad right now, if Kamala Harris,
our border czar, is back in office after November 5th, we will
continue to have these hearings.
We are doing this to elucidate the American people, to let
them know that we have got to stop this from happening in this
country and we have the ability to do just that.
I'll end with this. I have 18 seconds left, and I want to
tell you I can see your faces right now. Ma'am, this picture in
front of me has really touched my heart. I took a picture of
it, and I will show it to my children, and I will show it to
those people in Houston, Texas, to prevent this from ever
happening again.
I can see the pain on your face. As a father I understand
exactly how you feel. As a combat veteran--and tomorrow is 9/
11--as a combat veteran that went to war after 9/11, I fought
for this country to keep these animals from killing our young
children.
I will continue to fight tirelessly to do just that. Thank
you so much. Thank you for your bravery. God bless you all, and
we are trying our best to prevent these tragedies from ever
happening again. Thank you so much for being here.
Mr. Bishop. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina Mr.
Fry.
Mr. Fry. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for this hearing today, and thank you, ladies,
for being here. When I was in the South Carolina legislature I
chaired an opioid task force that was our State's response to
the opioid epidemic and at the beginning of every hearing we
did you get into the policy, right. You get into the weeds of
where you are and how do you get out of this.
We always started and ended every hearing with the faces
and voices of those who are going through this themselves, and
so it's incredibly brave for you to be here. I really
appreciate you sharing these stories. I know it's not easy to
do so but thank you.
Ms. Nungaray, your daughter Jocelyn was murdered by
Venezuelan nationals who entered the country illegally and they
were released in the country with notices to appear in front of
an immigration court. Is that correct?
Ms. Nungaray. Yes, that's correct.
Mr. Fry. One of them had an ankle--an ICE ankle monitor
when he murdered your daughter. This, to me, is just like
incredibly unfathomable that we're allowing these individuals
into this country.
What does it say about the policies of the Biden-Harris
Administration? Are their border policies, or lack thereof,
working for the American people?
Ms. Nungaray. There's a huge lack for public safety for us
U.S. citizens. We should be able to feel safe throughout all
cities of the United States and it is a very, very broken
failed system and I'm very appalled to be in this country
because of how failed it is, especially after losing my
daughter.
We should be safe and that shouldn't be a question. That
shouldn't be a privilege. That should be a requirement. As a
U.S. citizen we should be safe at all times.
Mr. Fry. No, I completely agree with you and,
unfortunately, there are so many that are similarly situated to
you and all of you that are going through this.
Ms. Nobles, I want to turn to you. The illegal alien who
murdered your daughter was an unaccompanied minor when he
entered the United States. Once he committed murder local
police were able to determine that he was actually in a gang,
MS-13. Had a criminal record in El Salvador.
Can you tell us what happened when Martinez became custody
of Child Protective Services after he murdered your daughter?
Ms. Nobles. The Aberdeen Police Department asked CPS to put
him in a secure location because of the crimes that he was
being--what he did and they agreed to put him in a secure
location.
When they went to go arrest him, they found out that it was
a group home and he was in a group home with other children and
the local police said, oh, this is secure.
They did not know--CPS did not let the Aberdeen Police
Department know that they moved him from the group home to a
foster home and enrolled him in high school.
Mr. Fry. What types of freedoms did he have after he did
this? You said he was enrolled in high school, which is--
Ms. Nobles. He was in--yes, he was put in high school with
1,400 other students knowing that he was in a premeditated
first-degree murder case--rape and assault.
Mr. Fry. Exposed to all these other individuals?
Ms. Nobles. All these other individuals, and it makes me so
angry that they put other children at risk.
Mr. Fry. If Kamala Harris were here right in this Committee
hearing today, if she was sitting here on the House side, what
questions would you have of her?
Ms. Nobles. Well, actually, I would say, well, you can have
Walter come live with you because Kayla was murdered in her own
bed. She was sleeping and she had to wake up to this monster
breaking into her room and strangling her with her own phone
cord. She can have him.
Mr. Fry. She won't.
Ms. Nobles. Of course. Of course, she doesn't want him in
her house but she's all for them, and it's not a joke. I would
tell her this is not a joke. You're laughing. These are real
people, real children, who had lives and was taken from them in
the worst way.
Mr. Fry. Thank you for that.
Ms. Morin, I want to turn to you. In your testimony you
talked about how the Border Patrol let a man with an open
Interpol warrant for murder in our country. Do you feel safe
under the broader policies of the Biden-Harris Administration?
Mr. Bishop. Mr. Fry, Ms. Morin stepped away.
Mr. Fry. Stepped away. Well, any of you, do you feel safe
under the Biden-Harris policies?
Ms. Aguirre. No. They chose to give people that have never
contributed to our country the possibility of a better life
while making the lives of the citizens worse while risking
public safety.
They gambled because it's not their lives to gamble with.
They have their private security. They have bulletproof car
vehicles. They live in gated communities. What about everybody
else that has to live with these individuals in their
communities?
Going back to the case of Maria Gonzalez, her neighbor was
one of those individuals that was brought here. He was an
unaccompanied minor, and ironically since he left his town in
Guatemala the murders of little girls stopped.
Mr. Fry. You know what is remarkable to me? I was hearing--
listening in my office or listening to the commentary on the
other side. I'm happy to work on securing the border.
Every time that we have come forward with a bill or a
policy initiative to do that, that you actually secure the
border, that you stop the flow of people who don't know why
they're in the country, that we stop the criminals from coming
into the country, they don't engage.
They shut down debate. They say we're engaged in conspiracy
theories. In fact, you know what's so strange? The first
hearing--one of the first hearings that I was ever in, in this
room, the Ranking Member said that we were imagining a border
crisis.
That is insanity. You all are living this every single day
and there are millions of people who are in your shoes. Thank
you for your bravery today. Thank you for being here, and we
will be praying for you and with you and continuing to push
this and make sure that we can secure our borders. Thank you.
Mr. Bishop. The gentleman yields back.
The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Ohio, Mr.
Rulli.
Mr. Rulli. So, I spent six years in the Ohio Senate and I'm
only in my third month in Congress, so I've seen a lot of
testimony over the last 6\1/2\ years.
This is the first time I was nervous, being in front of all
the mothers, and my days are long. I have a lot of different
things--hats I wear in my life. I came home a couple months
ago, and I watch a lot of news, and I saw Jocelyn's picture. I
just completely broke down.
Anyone that has a daughter there's no way you could get
around that, and I started thinking about what kind of
questions I could ask the moms and, like, I'm drawing a blank
and so, my cousin died young. My best friend got killed.
So, I got a lot of their moms together so they could help
each other and have a coffee group and they get together and
then they talk.
Then, I was thinking about the ultimate mom Mary and how
her son was sacrificed and she had to watch that and she had to
carry on, and you guys are going to carry on.
You're here and you are empowering yourself. You have to
say this story over and over and over again, and I can't
imagine how you wake up in the morning and you don't have her
or your kids, you don't have them with you, and how you go on.
All my grandparents were born overseas and then we
celebrated going through Ellis Island. My one grandma Gina, she
was stuck in Ellis Island for a year because there was medical
things. We vetted everybody and then we assimilated. We're a
country of immigrants. We're not anti-immigrant.
We don't know who's here, and you guys are the biggest
stories of them all. In Ohio I know handfuls of people that
have been killed in drunk driving that are from illegal aliens
that are driving these vehicles and shouldn't be there.
I really encourage all of you to continue this venture and
don't stop. It's easy for me to say but I don't--no matter how
bad it hurts you have to keep telling the story because people
in everyday life it's just a little blurb of your stories and
it's coming to a theater near them.
In Springfield, right now--you've heard in Ohio there's
tens of thousands of Haitians that are there. There was a
little boy, 11 years old, killed by one of them.
I'm not going into all this--stories about all the other
different cultural things. I'm just talking about bare bones
here and this is Ohio.
So, I just want to take a second, and I know a couple of
the moms are from Maryland and so when I heard that Maryland
and being in Ohio, and living our lives when you hear the
border crisis you think it's Texas or you think it's Arizona.
You don't think Maryland. You don't think Ohio. You don't
think Vermont. You don't think Massachusetts. You don't think
Minnesota. You think Texas.
Maryland is as far away from the border as you can get. So,
just with the moment for the moms that are from Maryland
there's no way you could have ever thought that in your neck of
the woods that your kids wouldn't have been safe, and here we
are.
We have to vet these people. So, if the moms from Maryland
could just say a word or two.
Ms. Nobles. I didn't think I would be living the journey
that I am. I thought Kayla would be safe in her own home and
it's just--it could happen to anyone. It could happen to anyone
anywhere and you don't have to be close to the border to have
this affect you.
We picked out a pretty white dress for Kayla for her
viewing. She couldn't even wear it. She had to wear a granny
dress to be covered from her chin down because of the bruise,
because of all--because she was covered in bruises and her neck
and all that was messed up from the cord.
So, this could happen to anyone.
Mr. Rulli. Well, I can't thank you enough, and if you can
continue the journey the public needs to know. This isn't
Democrat or Republican. This is just America, and we could do
better, and your kids didn't die in vain.
With that, I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back.
Once again, I want to thank you all for being here and
telling your story. I apologize once again for the breaks and
then they just--in some ways a typical day on Capitol Hill.
We do appreciate your valuable testimony that I think a lot
of Americans--a lot of Americans are going to take to heart.
So, with that, our Committee is--the Committee stands--
wait, I need to one other thing.
This concludes today's hearing. We thank our witnesses for
appearing. Without objection all Members will have five
legislative days to submit additional written questions for the
witnesses or additional materials for the record.
Without objection the hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:24 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
All materials submitted for the record by Members of the
Committee on the Judiciary can be found at: https://
docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=117608.
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