The Democratic congressman challenging Republican Sen. Ted Cruz's seat in Texas downplayed crimes committed by illegal immigrants just days before a 12-year-old Texas girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and strangled to death by two illegal immigrants.
speech Talk Radio Shows In early June, Texas Democratic Rep. Collin Allred and host Dean Obeidallah spoke about a range of political issues leading up to the 2024 elections, touching on the topic of immigration and the US-Mexico border, and specifically how border issues relate to crime. Obeidallah acknowledged that a variety of international issues, including Venezuela's economic collapse and gang rule in Haiti, are “putting a strain” on communities along the border, but pushed back against the idea that immigrant crime is a particular concern for ordinary Texans. (RELATED: Eric Adams declares support for repealing New York City's sanctuary city law)
“But some Texans who live in communities near the border, like Brownsville, Laredo, El Paso, will say the idea that their community is being torn apart by crime is completely wrong, that's not their experience,” Allred said June 5. “And it's not their community.”
He also called for additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and immigration judges to address the massive backlog of asylum applications in immigration courts.
TOP SHOT – Haitian migrants continue to cross the US-Mexico border along the Rio Grande River, seen from Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, on September 19, 2021. (Photo by Paul Lache/AFP via Getty Images)
A week after this interview, the body of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nangaray was found in a creek north of Houston.
After a days-long investigation, local police arrested Venezuelan nationals Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26. Immigration and Customs Enforcement later confirmed that they had entered the country illegally.
DNA testing also revealed that Nungarei had been sexually assaulted before being strangled to death. Local prosecutors allege that the two men bound the 12-year-old, pulled down her trousers and sexually assaulted her before suffocating her and dumping her body in a nearby stream.
Unlike most states and other jurisdictions, Texas tracks arrests involving individuals not legally residing in the U.S., and current data shows immigration crime is on the rise in the state.
In 2020, there were 26,864 arrests related to illegal immigration in the state. according to Texas Department of Public Safety. Their number is Inflated This will increase to 46,793 by 2023.
“Collin Allred has remained silent about the death of Jocelyn Nangaray and the rise in illegal immigrant crime in the country, yet has had no problem voting for mass amnesty for illegal immigrants,” a Cruz campaign spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “He has proven time and time again that he will always be a consistent vote in favor of Joe Biden's open border policies.”
“He is responsible for these senseless deaths and Texans will not forget that come November,” the statement continued.
Allred's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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