Angel Moms Detail the Horrific Consequences of Open Borders Before Congress
FAIR Take | September 2024
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing in which Americans shared their personal stories on how the Biden-Harris Administration’s open borders have devastated their lives. These witnesses, advocates and relatives of crime victims, talked about their personal tragedies, loss of life, and the dangers of fentanyl that is being carried across the border.
The hearing, entitled, “The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives,” was designed to reveal the human toll of mass illegal immigration. The witnesses included Anne Fundner, Patty Morin, Tammy Nobles, and Alexis Nungaray – angel moms who tragically lost their children as a result of the Biden-Harris Administration’s reckless open-borders policies. The Committee also heard from Sheriff Mike Boudreaux of Tulare County, California, April Aguirre, a crime victims’ advocate, Melissa Lopez, the Executive Director of Estrella del Paso, and Cecilia Farfan-Mendez, a researcher affiliated with the University of California San Diego.
Under the current administration’s lawless policies, dangerous illegal aliens are flooding over our borders in record numbers. In just over three and half years, Border Patrol agents have apprehended nearly 53,000 criminal aliens. That number includes more than 4,400 aliens convicted of assault, battery and domestic violence, over 3,100 convicted of theft-related offenses, more than 1,300 convicted of sexual offenses, and almost 200 convicted of homicide/manslaughter.
In just Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 alone, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 73,822 illegal aliens with criminal histories, with over 290,000 associated charges and convictions. In the first three months of FY2024, ICE has already arrested nearly 20,000 illegal aliens with pending criminal charges or convictions. And, according to data obtained by the Judiciary Committee in early 2024, there are an estimated 617,607 aliens on ICE’s non-detained docket with pending criminal charges or convictions.
In her testimony, Patty Morin demonstrated the devastating effects of open borders by recounting the tragic story of her daughter, Rachel, a 37-year-old mother of five who was brutally raped and murdered in 2023 while on a trail run in Harford County, Maryland. Her alleged murderer, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, is a 23-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador who entered the U.S. illegally at least four times and is a suspected gang member. In addition to Morin’s brutal murder, Martinez-Hernandez is also suspected of multiple sexual assaults in California and the murder of a woman in El Salvador. Authorities have since identified him as a potential serial killer based on his repeated criminal activity in Central America and the United States. During her emotional opening remarks, Morin described her daughter’s murder as “the most brutal crime that has happened in Maryland that they can even remember.”
Alexis Nungaray also offered powerful testimony at the hearing. She told Members of Congress about the horrific murder of her 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn. In June 2024, Jocelyn Nungaray was brutally assaulted and murdered under a bridge by two men in Houston, Texas. According to police, Jocelyn was found dumped in a creek bed bound with rope and nude from the waist down. Her cause of death was later determined to be strangulation. Two illegal aliens from Venezuela, Franklin Jose Pena Ramos and Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, both of whom were released by the Biden-Harris Administration earlier this year, have been charged with Jocelyn’s murder. During her gut-wrenching testimony, Alexis Nungaray stated, “[Jocelyn] had her entire life ahead of her. Because of these open border policies, I will 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’s gone.”
As a result of open borders, American communities are also being devastated by the cross-border influx of deadly, illegal drugs such as fentanyl. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, nearly 67,000 pounds of fentanyl, more than 7,700 pounds of heroin, over 267,000 pounds of cocaine, and almost 590,000 pounds of methamphetamine have been seized at our borders. Sadly, the increased trafficking of dangerous drugs into American communities has caused the death of loved ones through poisoning and overdose. Anne Fundner, who lost her 15-year-old son, Weston, in 2022 after he unknowingly took a pill laced with fentanyl, told Members that “[s]ince this administration took office, 300,000 sets of parents have had to bury their children.”
Many Members highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration’s failures in securing the border and protecting American families. Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) emphasized that lives have been lost due to the Administration’s policies, stating, “[a]t today’s hearing, we heard from the families of victims who tragically lost their lives because of the open border. Their loved ones should still be with us today. But the truth is they aren’t because this administration failed them.” After the hearing, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called out the administration, arguing that the, “refusal to secure the border is killing innocent Americans.”
Some Members actually pushed back against the victims testifying before the Judiciary Committee. Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) said, “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.” Multiple witnesses outright rejected Escobar’s characterization.
What was clear from the hearing is that the Biden-Harris Administration has put the American people last on the priority list, and in many cases forced them to pay the price for open borders with their lives. Without real reform to bolster enforcement efforts and secure our borders, the crisis will simply continue and communities all over the country will be forced to live with the consequences.
To watch the full hearing, click here.