Last Tuesday, Michael Morin spoke directly to the American public when he addressed the Republican National Convention. His story was an all too familiar one. His sister, Rachel, a mother of five, was raped and murdered earlier this year by an illegal alien with ties to a criminal gang in his native El Salvador while she was out jogging one evening on a trail near her Maryland home.
Mr. Morin made it absolutely clear that, in his view, the events that led to his sister’s agonizing death were a direct consequence of the Biden-Harris administration’s politically-driven policies that have allowed millions of illegal aliens to pour across our borders since 2021, including those with criminal records. The results of such policies were not merely predictable; they were inevitable. “Joe Biden and his designated border czar Kamala Harris opened our borders to him and others like him,” he declared, adding that, “To this day, we have not heard from Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.”
Many eerily similar stories have shocked and appalled the American public, which refuses to buy the administration’s claims that our borders are under control and repeated media assertions that there is no connection between lawless borders and increases in crime in communities where illegal aliens take up residence. Every crime committed by an illegal alien – especially those perpetrated by aliens who have been caught and then released into the country under Biden-Harris administration policies – is one that could have been avoided if the administration had simply enforced our laws.
Sick and tired of waiting for the administration to change course, people across the country are pushing back, including Members of Congress. Earlier this month, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) introduced the Justice for Jocelyn Act in an effort to prevent future crimes by illegal aliens. The bill is named for Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl found raped and strangled in Cruz’s home state of Texas on June 17.
Two Venezuelan illegal aliens, Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, have been arrested and face capital murder charges for that heinous crime. They allegedly lured Jocelyn under a bridge, where they assaulted her for two hours before killing her. Both illegal aliens crossed the southern border this year, and instead of being detained and placed in removal proceedings, they were released on Alternatives to Detention (ATD), which is supposed to track illegal aliens who are released into the country while they press their claims for being allowed to remain here.
The program’s track record for keeping tabs on illegal aliens is spotty at best. In Jocelyn’s case, it appears to have proved lethal. One of the suspects was released from the program after only a few weeks when he complied with check-ins. The other suspect reportedly cut off his GPS ankle monitor following the assault.
Sen. Cruz’s bill would prohibit the release of an illegal alien on ATD unless all detention beds are filled and DHS has exhausted efforts to detain them. Such measures could have prevented Jocelyn’s alleged killers from being released into the country. The bill further requires that all illegal aliens on the non-detained docket be placed on ATD with mandatory GPS monitoring for the duration of their immigration proceedings or until removal. That means one of Jocelyn’s alleged killers would have never been removed from the program and millions of others could be more effectively tracked.
In the absence of a sincere effort on the part of the administration to secure our borders and deter mass illegal immigration, barring the wholesale release of illegal aliens into the country with little or no supervision is a commonsense step that Congress can take to protect the safety of Americans. This fiscal year alone, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered tens of thousands of illegal aliens with criminal charges or convictions. In fiscal year 2023, ICE arrested 73,822 illegal aliens, who collectively had over 290,000 charges and convictions. These include 33,209 for assault, 4,390 for sexual assault, and 1,713 for homicide. America’s borders are so insecure that migrants with criminal charges or convictions do not fear trying to get into the United States.
Not every one of these victims, or their grieving relatives, will have an opportunity to tell their story to a national audience. Nor should they need to. Simple common sense should indicate that open borders and policies that turn millions of illegal aliens loose will certainly result in more tragedies such as those that befell Rachel Morin and Jocelyn Nungaray.
Americans should expect that their government will take all reasonable steps to ensure that they are safe in their own country. If the president will not do his job and secure our borders, Congress must step up to enact real reforms like those put forward in the Justice for Jocelyn Act.
Dan Stein is the president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).