HOUSTON — Relatives of a 12 year old girl from Houston Police say he was killed by two Venezuelan men who had entered the U.S. illegally. They said Friday they are supporting legislation that would severely limit the ability of federal immigration authorities to release immigrants they detain.
The proposed legislation flies in the face of what immigrant rights groups have been advocating — an abolition of detention — with one calling the measure an attempt “to blow up the immigration enforcement system” and “demonize immigrant communities.”
Venezuelan citizens Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, are accused of first degree murder in the death of Jocelyn Nungaraywhose body was found in a creek on June 17 after she disappeared while walking to a grocery store. A coroner concluded she had been strangled.
The two men entered the United States illegally on separate occasions near El Paso earlier this year. They were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol but later released with orders to appear in court at a later date, according to the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Their release came through ICE’s Alternatives to Detention programs, which allow detained immigrants to be released while their immigration cases are pending. ICE uses GPS monitoring, phone calls and a phone app to track them and ensure they attend their court hearings.
“The two men who took my daughter away from me should never have been here. They should never have been allowed to roam our streets as free as they were,” Alexis Nungaray, Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother, said at a news conference.
After the girl’s death, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and U.S. Representative Troy Nehls, both Republicans from Texas, introduced a bill called the “Justice for Jocelyn Act.” The bill would prevent federal authorities from releasing a detained immigrant if there are available beds at a detention center.
If detained immigrants are released, they will be subject to constant GPS monitoring and a curfew. Any violation of the conditions of their release would result in immediate deportation.
“These are crimes committed by illegal immigrants who were captured and the Biden-Harris administration decided to release,” Cruz said.
Kim Ogg, Harris County District Attorney and a Democrat, said she supports the legislation because “it will make us safer and because crime is bigger than partisanship.”
Republicans have used recent cases of immigrants entering the country illegally and being charged with crimes to attack President Joe Biden’s failed efforts. immigration policyA Venezuelan man has been arrested in Georgia on charges of killing nursing student Laken Hope Riley. became a focal point in the national debate on immigration. The suspect, Jose Ibarra, appeared in court on Friday because his lawyers have requested that his case be moved to another province.
Nayna Gupta, policy director at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago, said the proposed legislation “tries to take advantage of … a terrible situation.”
Gupta said it would eliminate the limited legal recourse detained immigrants have to prove they pose no danger and should not be held in a “detention system where deaths, abuse and medical neglect are really increasing at an alarming rate.” The bill’s mandatory GPS monitoring would be a “massive expansion” of ICE’s surveillance system, Gupta added.
“This bill is just an attempt to politicize the immigration enforcement system by spreading fear and using a tragic incident to demonize immigrant communities,” she said.
An ICE spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the Alternatives to Detention programs, which have been in place since 2004.
ICE’s website states that applicants are thoroughly screened and that immigration officials consider several factors, including criminal history, surveillance history, and family and community ties.
Immigrant rights groups have called on federal authorities to rely less on detention, saying it is inefficient and ineffective, while alternatives are more humane and cost-effective.
Many studies have found that immigrants are less likely to commit violent crime than native citizens.
“Does our immigration system need to be fixed? Yes. But not because of these individual crimes. It needs to be fixed because it has been broken and outdated for decades,” Gupta said.
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