By Casey Harper (Centre Square)
The mother of a woman killed by a gang-affiliated illegal immigrant shared her tearful story Tuesday during testimony before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Integrity, Security, and Enforcement immigration.
Tammy Nobles is the mother of Kayla Marie, a 20-year-old autistic woman who was raped and killed last summer.
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In March last year, officials apprehended Marie’s suspected killer illegally crossing the United States in Rio Grande City, Texas, just months before Marie died. The unaccompanied teenager from El Salvador is believed to be affiliated with MS-13, which is largely based in El Salvador and Honduras.
MS-13 is a violent gang that has expanded its reach into the northern United States in recent years. Its motto is “kill, rape and control”.
Nobles pointed to a flawed immigration system during his testimony, saying that because the suspect was a teenager and not an adult when he entered the United States illegally, he was allowed to go live with his aunt in the Maryland. He rented a room in the same trailer as Marie, the same trailer where she was soon found dead.
“Kayla’s killer lived there less than 5 days before he brutally murdered my daughter,” Nobles said. “Kayla had two jobs. She worked at a cleaning company and at the Weis grocery store. Kayla had autism but was determined to live independently and make her way in this world. And my baby paid the ultimate price.
The suspect was arrested in January this year and charged with first degree murder using DNA evidence.
Nobles went into graphic detail before Congress about his daughter’s death.
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“The killer entered Kayla’s room startling her, grabbed her iPod charger and wrapped it around her throat and face while choking her to death,” Nobles said. “Kayla grabbed her phone and called her boyfriend, but he went to voicemail. The strangling murderer Kayla’s voicemail lasted 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The killer then violently sexually assaulted Kayla. Kayla’s boyfriend came home from work to find her dead on the floor. The charger cord was so tight around her neck and face that her boyfriend had to use his teeth to pull it out.
Nobles told lawmakers that for her, this issue was not about politics, but about security.
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“It could have been anyone’s daughter,” she said. “Kayla was doing nothing wrong and she didn’t deserve to be murdered. I don’t want another parent to go through the nightmare I am going through. I am his voice now and I will fight with everything I have to get his story told and raise awareness of the border issue. I will ensure that his memory lives on.
The nobles lambasted government officials, saying they could have done more to prevent this from happening.
“The government could have phoned Salvadoran authorities and found out he was a gang member,” she said. “But they didn’t. If we had stricter border policies, my daughter would still be alive today. Nothing will bring my daughter back or ease the pain of not having her here, but I want to prevent this from happening to someone else’s child. It’s not about immigration. This is to protect everyone in the United States.
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The testimony comes as illegal immigration to the United States has skyrocketed under the Biden administration. Like The Center Square before reportedFederal immigration data shows that the number of people illegally entering the United States through the southern border through April of this year exceeds the population of six US states.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Rodney Scott, a former Border Patrol agent who now works for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, testified about the explosion of illegal immigration and how it “effectively transferred the control of our southwestern border in the hands of the Mexican drug cartels”. .”
“As political leaders routinely ignored the advice of career professionals and increasingly made policy decisions that resulted in the release of aliens to the United States, the volume of illegal immigration predictably increased dramatically. “Scott said. “I have watched and experienced first hand the rapid degradation of our border security from order to utter chaos. I have seen the border security gains that have been made over three decades dismantled and the economies and security of border communities in the United States and Mexico collapse.
Syndicated with permission from the central square.