The mother of Maryland mom Rachel Morin, who was brutally raped and killed last year by a suspect who was in the country illegally, called attention to the failed policies of the Biden administration and "border czar" Kamala Harris as the vice president launches her 2024 campaign.
"The border is Mr. Mayorkas' responsibility. He's supposed to secure the borders and protect Americans," Patty Morin told "Fox & Friends" on Thursday. "Vice President Harris, according to White House, she was supposed to go to Central America and find out what the root cause was for the immigration and deal with it there… I think… she's promised up to $14 billion now to be invested in these countries, to help those countries with infrastructure and jobs and all those things."
"To me, it looked like she was paying the country to export the people that they considered troublesome to them, and then Mayorkas allowing the borders to stay open," she continued. "So we have almost 9 million, at last count… 8.7 million, illegal immigrants coming into our country. If it was any other country, it would have been considered an invasion."
RACHEL MORIN'S MOM RIPS BIDEN'S INDIFFERENCE TO BORDER CRISIS: HE'S IN AN ‘IVORY TOWER’
Rachel was allegedly raped and killed in August of last year by Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, who police believe is also responsible for a home invasion in Los Angeles and murder in his home country.
He was arrested in June in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and charged with various counts including first-degree murder, rape and assault. His trial is set to begin in October.
If convicted, the 23-year-old migrant could spend life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
The Border Patrol reportedly caught him several times earlier this year leading up to his arrest, but he was released back into Mexico under Title 42. Shortly thereafter, he was ultimately deemed a "gotaway" near El Paso, Texas, where he successfully entered the country.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECTED IN MARYLAND MOM RACHEL MORIN'S MURDER FACES MAXIMUM PENALTY IF CONVICTED
Patty argued the surge at the southern border transcends politics and is not a partisan issue. She believes Harris, who was tasked with handling the border when she became vice president, ignored the problem and her daughter became collateral damage in the process.
"It is a Democrat problem, but it's not Democrat or Republican. It's an American problem," Morin said. "We have almost 9 million undocumented people in our country. We don't know where they are. We know that they've been flown and bused to all the major cities. We know that crime has increased in all those cities exponentially because of these people being taken to our biggest cities."
"It's just going to get worse if we don't close the border and we don't vet the people that are coming," she continued. "It is just common sense and good government. Protect the people that you've been elected to protect."
The House of Representatives voted along bipartisan lines Thursday to condemn Harris' handling of the southern border, the first piece of legislation targeting the vice president since she became the Democrats' presumptive 2024 nominee.
Six Democrats joined all Republicans in voting for the measure, which passed 220-196.
Rachel's brother, Michael Morin, spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin last week, honoring his sister's memory while slamming the Biden administration for its complicity in the border crisis.
"Rachel, a joyful, accomplished athlete and mother of five was raped and murdered by a suspected illegal immigrant," he told the crowd at the Republican National Convention. "This was described as among the most brutal and violent offenses that has ever occurred in Harford County, Maryland history."
"Open borders are often portrayed as compassionate and virtuous. But there is nothing compassionate about allowing violent criminals into our country and robbing children of their mother."
Fox News' Adam Shaw and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
