FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers are calling for a "complete and total" moratorium on Venezuelan migration into the U.S. in the wake of the murder of a 12-year-old girl in Texas, allegedly by two Venezuelan illegal immigrants.
In a letter, led by Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, they raise concerns about "violent criminals from Venezuela being released from prisons, embedding themselves into migrant caravans, and traversing into the United States."
Nehls has written to Mayorkas before about reports that Venezuela is releasing criminals from jails and sending them north to the border. He wrote again in February 2024, warning about the presence of Venezuelan migrant gangs in cities across America.
VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS' BARBARIC CRIMES COME AS MADURO REFUSES TO TAKE BACK ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Now, Nehls and colleagues are writing in the wake of the killing of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston, Texas. Two illegal immigrants, Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, face capital murder charges in her death. They are accused of luring her under a bridge, tying her up and killing her before throwing her body into a river.
Officials confirmed the accused men were in the country illegally. Martinez had been apprehended by Border Patrol in March, and Pena had been apprehended in May. Both were released on an order of recognizance pending their immigration court hearings.
Republicans, including Nehls and his colleagues, have blamed the Biden administration’s policies for deaths at the hands of illegal immigrants.
"If you had heeded the warnings in our prior letters, Jocelyn Nungaray, and others, could still be alive. That is not a matter of opinion. It is a fact," they say.
They then urge Mayorkas to prevent Venezuelan nationals from entering the U.S. "and immediately deport those you have released pending immigration proceedings."
VENEZUELA REPORTEDLY SCRAPS US DEAL TO DEPORT ILLEGAL MIGRANTS AS SOME COMMIT CRIMES TO BE DEPORTED
"Finally, in the strongest of terms, we implore you to initiate a complete and total moratorium on all Venezuelan migration until they agree to cooperate with deportation requests. Americans have suffered enough at the hands of the Biden Administration," they say.
Officials are currently limited from deporting illegal immigrants to Venezuela after the country in January stopped accepting deportation flights from the U.S. and Mexico. The socialist regime had started accepting returns of migrants, whose numbers coming to the U.S. border spiked in 2023, in October.
Other lawmakers on the letter are Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., Randy Weber, R-Texas, and Pete Stauber, R-Minn.
The ongoing border crisis is a top issue for voters ahead of the November election. The Biden administration has pushed back against Republican criticism, saying it needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform from Congress to fix what it says is a "broken" system.
It has recently pointed to a more than 50% drop in illegal immigrant crossings since President Biden announced an executive order last month limiting crossings into the U.S. It also says the number of releases has decreased by 70%. Officials also say the administration has removed and returned more than 50,000 individuals to more than 100 countries.
