The mother of a Maryland woman who police say was raped and murdered by an undocumented migrant ripped President Biden's indifference to the nation's border crisis in an emotional interview with Fox News Digital.
"It’s like they’re pretending these immigration problems don’t exist and people aren’t being harmed and killed by their policies," Patty Morin said. "The victims are those that are being killed but also their loved ones that they've left behind. It's devastating to the community."
Her daughter, Rachel Morin, 37, was raped and beaten before she was strangled to death on a Maryland hiking trail in August 2023 – leaving her five children without a mother.
After a nationwide manhunt, police arrested El Salvadoran national and suspected gang member Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, last week in a Tulsa, Oklahoma bar and extradited him to Maryland.
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Patty said the loss of her daughter has left her in psychological shambles.
"It's like you have a candle and all of a sudden you just blow it out," she said of Rachel's death. "And all around America there are these lights just being blown out."
Rachel is one of numerous headline-grabbing cases that has put the immigration debate at the forefront of the national agenda and fomented fear about the millions of migrants pouring over the border.
In recent months, immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally have been charged with a string of violent crimes, including the murder of a 12-year-old girl in Texas, the rape of a 13-year-old girl in New York City and the slaying of a Georgia nursing school student.
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At Martinez Hernandez's first court appearance in Harford County District Court on Friday, prosecutors alleged he dragged Rachel off the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air and beat her so severely that she was left with more than 10 gashes on her head. Her body, which was found in a drainage tunnel, was blanketed in bruises.
Patty and other relatives watched in the gallery as Martinez Hernandez's face was beamed on a TV in the courtroom.
"The emotions were so overwhelming," she said. "I couldn't bear the pain [of seeing him]."
The accused killer fled his native country in February 2023 after he allegedly murdered a woman there the month prior and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
He made three unsuccessful attempts to enter the United States before he made it across the border.
Police said he soon assaulted a 9-year-old girl and her mother during a Los Angeles home invasion in March 2023 – several months before Rachel's murder.
"There’s an immigration crisis," Patty said. "I’m not against immigration, but you don’t just open the front door to your house and invite any stranger in off the street. You vet them at the door. Who are you? Why are you here? You learn about them and decide if they’re safe before letting them into your home. Our country shouldn’t behave differently."
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Rachel's boyfriend reported her missing in May after she went for a hike in Harford County and never returned. Her car was found in the area and her battered corpse was soon discovered in the vicinity.
Investigators said Martinez Hernandez stayed with relatives in Maryland during a nationwide manhunt between December 2023 and May 2024 before he left unannounced.
He left behind bags of clothing, and detectives were able to collect DNA evidence from the items that matched genetic material taken from the crime scene.
Patty, who lives in Harford County, said she agonizes over her daughter's final moments.
"I’m sure she knew she wasn’t going to live," she said, breaking down in tears. "I’m sure she was thinking of her children and thinking about all the things she’s going to lose, and this is going to be the end of her life. She must have felt so helpless."
Patty said Biden has failed to show sufficient interest in the plight of those victimized by undocumented migrants entering the nation under his watch and that she has yet to be contacted by his office.
"President Biden hasn’t really showed any concern for anything the American people have voiced on this issue," she told Fox News Digital. "It’s like he’s sitting in an ivory tower, and we’re just down here. He’s not connected with the everyday person."
Patty said former President Trump reached out to her and that they spoke about Rachel's death.
"Mr. Trump was actually very genuine," she said. "I think you can tell in a person’s voice. From his voice, he sounded genuinely concerned, as if he himself had experienced a loss."
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The approach, she said, was a counterpoint to what she views as the current administration's disinterest in her case and illegal immigration as a whole.
"As a mother, you innately want to protect your children," she said. "It’s just in us to nurture and protect them. To feel helpless and to feel unsafe ourselves and watch as our government looks the other way and doesn’t protect our children, for me that’s very sad and very unsettling."
Martinez Hernandez's court-appointed attorney, Amy Valdivia, didn't immediately return a request for comment. The White House Press Office also didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
