SEATTLE - Senator Ted Cruz and Rep. Troy Nehls are pushing for the state of Texas to introduce the "Justice for Jocelyn Act," a bill that would introduce tougher immigration laws in the state following the death of a 12-year-old Houston girl who prosecutors say was murdered by two undocumented immigrants from Venezuela.
Family members of Jocelyn Nungaray, whose body was found in a creek on June 17 after she disappeared during a walk to a convenience store, are supporting the legislation, which would severely limit the ability of federal immigration authorities to release immigrants they detain.
If it becomes law, the "Justice for Jocelyn Act" would prevent migrants from being released until all available detention beds are filled and, if they do, they would be subjected to continuous GPS monitoring and have a nightly curfew. Any violation of the terms of their release would result in immediate deportation.
Johan José Martínez-Rangel and Franklin José Peña Ramos have been charged with capital murder in the death of Jocelyn Nungaray. A medical examiner concluded that she was strangled. The two men entered the United States illegally earlier this year on separate occasions near El Paso.
They were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents but later released with orders to appear in court at a later date, according to the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. "These are crimes committed by illegal immigrants who were apprehended and that the Biden-Harris administration chose to release," Cruz said.
"The two men who ripped my daughter away from me should have never been here. They should never have been roaming our streets freely, as freely as they were," Alexis Nungaray, Jocelyn Nungaray's mother, said at a news conference.
Republicans have noted recent cases of immigrants who entered the country illegally and were charged with crimes to attack what they say are President Joe Bien's failed immigration policies. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in March found that only about 3 in 10 Americans approved of Biden's handling of immigration.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, a Democrat, said that the act proposed by Sen. Cruz and other Republicans will "make us safer and because crime is bigger than partisanship. If Justice for Jocelyn had already been the law of the land it is a great likelihood Jocelyn would be here today," said Ogg.
Migrants' rights groups have urged federal authorities to rely less on detention, saying it is inefficient and ineffective and alternatives are more humane and cost-effective. Nayna Gupta, director of policy for the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center, said the proposed legislation is "seeking to exploit an awful situation."
As different studies showing that immigrants are less drawn to violent crime than native-born citizens, Gupta said that the bill is an attempt to "bloat the immigration enforcement system in a politicized manner by fearmongering and using a tragic incident, again, to demonize immigrant communities."
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