By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-10-29 23:04:44 | Updated at 2024-10-30 01:34:29
2 hours ago
Houston’s Democratic district attorney slammed the Harris-Biden administration’s disastrous “catch and release” border policy Tuesday, saying it has unleashed hundreds of migrant criminals on the city.
Harris County DA Kim Ogg told The Post that the violent roaming migrant law-breakers, including the men accused of murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, are committing crimes that would be “preventable” — if the White House instituted stronger border restrictions to keep them out.
She said little Jocelyn, who was allegedly killed by two illegal migrants from Venezuela, would be alive today if not for the current border policies.
“If the two murderers had not been released with ankle monitors, which instills a false sense of security in everyone … if they hadn’t been released, Jocelyn Nungaray wouldn’t have been murdered,” a disgusted Ogg said, noting how the men were given the devices from the government to track them after they crossed into the US illegally and were freed.
Fox News revealed that one in 10 inmates currently being held in the jail in Harris County — the largest county in Texas — are illegal migrants being sought by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation.
That amounts to more than 1,100 migrants who are being held pending trial, according to records obtained by Fox News.
Roughly 43% of the migrants detained in the Houston jail are accused of violent crimes, including 174 for sexual assault, more than half of which involved children under the age of 14, records show.
There are also 22 murder cases linked to the migrants.
“When it comes to migrant criminals coming here, we’re seeing just in terms of the volume … more violent crimes committed by migrants from places that do not share information with American officials,” Ogg said.
The DA said Venezuelan migrants in particular are “No. 1 on my list right now.
“We’re seeing colonies of Venezuelans pop up, and we’re seeing cases like Jocelyn Nungaray murdered by two Venezuelan nationals who were captured by ICE but released under the current administration’s policy,” she said. “And the catch-and-release program is absurd in concept.”
Venezuelan migrants Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 21, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, were both released into the US with GPS trackers after they crossed illegally at the border weeks before Jocelyn was killed in June.
Ogg has been outspoken while prosecuting the case and has even backed Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s reelection over the issue of migrant crime.
“It’s unfortunate that those policies lead to crimes, terrible crimes that are, in fact, preventable,” she fumed.
She also took swipes at local officials for allowing many migrants to go free on bail even after they have been arrested for crimes.
“Some members of our Harris County judiciary are routinely releasing violent criminals who [entered the US illegally]. Once on bond, they frequently flee the jurisdiction. It’s completely predictable,” Ogg said.
“Releasing individuals who are charged with violent crimes has always posed a risk. But with migrants, you get the added risk of not knowing what crimes they’ve committed in their home countries, meaning they could be far more dangerous than the crime they’re charged with,” she said.
