Border czar Kamala Harris visits Houston weeks after Jocelyn Nungaray allegedly murdered by illegal immigrants
"Border czar" Kamala Harris came under fire for not visiting the parents of Jocelyn Nungaray, who was allegedly murdered by a migrant, or the southern border during her visit to Texas.
"Border czar" Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Houston, Texas, choosing to attend a dinner for a convention for teachers rather than visit the grieving parents of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was raped and murdered, allegedly by two migrants.
Nungaray was found strangled to death June 17. Authorities identified the suspects as two Venezuelan nationals — Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 21, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26.
Authorities previously confirmed the pair illegally entered the U.S. earlier this year.
Harris' visit to Houston came as the vice president began a whirlwind campaign tour after President Biden announced he would not seek re-election.
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Harris began her trip by greeting local leaders to be briefed on the region’s recovery efforts from Hurricane Beryl and then attended the American Federation of Teachers' (AFT) annual convention.
"And I thank you also for your support over the years and for being the first union to endorse me this week," Harris said.
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Harris' address highlighted her campaign hot-button topics, which included key parts of the Democratic Party platform, such as eliminating voter ID to expand mail-in voting, banning assault rifles, protecting LGBTQ+ rights and restoring national access to abortion.
"In this moment across our nation, we witness a full-on attack on hard-won, hard-fought freedoms," said Harris.
"In this moment, we are in a fight for our most fundamental freedoms. And to this room of leaders, I say bring it on. Bring it on. Bring it on."
Harris' visit notably did not include a visit to Nungaray's grieving parents who, since her death, have pleaded for a "safer country" and called for heightened border security to prevent other families from suffering the same fate.
"We have to stop burying our kids," Jocelyn's mother, Alexis Nungaray, said tearfully on "Hannity." "This isn’t right. We have to have more reinforcement when it comes to letting people in. This is not OK."
Jocelyn's grandfather, Kelvin Alvarenga, turned his attention directly to lawmakers.
"I would like the people that can make changes to our laws to just sit back and reflect," Alvarenga said. "I don’t know if we can transmit the pain that we’re having through cameras, but please sit back and reflect and think of all these little angels that shouldn’t have been taken away, and they have for the reason that we’re not doing what we need to, screening these people."
"Screening these people" fell under Harris' charge as "border czar" for the Biden administration.
"Border czar" is an informal title widely granted to Harris in 2021 when Biden appointed her to handle the "root causes" of illegal immigration.
In July 2021, she introduced a five-point general strategy to combat those "root causes" of illegal immigration. The plan did not include specific policies, but instead called for "diplomacy, foreign assistance, public diplomacy and sanctions" to "establish a fair, orderly and humane immigration system."
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The document emphasized the "push" factors of migration, including natural disasters in Central America, poverty, hunger, and gang violence, each of which contributes to people leaving their homes in search of a better life in America.
"In Central America, the root causes of migration run deep — and migration from the region has a direct impact on the United States," Harris said at the time. "For that reason, our nation must consistently engage with the region to address the hardships that cause people to leave Central America and come to our border."
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The Biden administration has pushed back against categorizing Harris as the "border czar," saying the vice president was never formally given that title.
"[Border apprehensions] are down by 55%. Not because of Republicans and what they did. It's because of what this president and this vice president did," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told Fox News' Peter Doocy when pressed on Harris' title.
"We are going to debunk the false characterization of the vice president. She was not a border czar. And it's not just us. Independent fact-checkers have said the same thing — that that did not exist, and that is not true."
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott torched Harris' visit to Houston, saying she "couldn't trouble herself" to visit the southern border.
"Kamala Harris flew to Houston for a political rally, but couldn't trouble herself to go a few hundred miles more & see the damage she caused to our border," Abbott wrote in a post on X.
"She refused to mention Jocelyn Nungaray who was recently killed by illegal immigrants in Houston."
Nungaray is among victims killed in migrant-related crime during the Biden administration.
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In July, Jhon Moises Chacaguasay-Ilbis, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant from Ecuador, allegedly murdered Joselyn Jhoana Toaquiza at an Airbnb property in Syracuse, New York.
The gruesome crime was reportedly carried out on the victim's 21st birthday.
In February, 22-year-old Laken Riley was murdered when taking a run along dirt trails on the University of Georgia campus in Athens.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal migrant from Venezuela, is facing 10 counts following the death of Riley. The 26-year-old recently pleaded not guilty in the death of a college student.
In August 2023, Maryland mother Rachel Morin was allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered by Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, a 23-year-old illegal El Salvadorian migrant.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to Fox News Digital that Hernandez had attempted to enter the country illegally four times after being accused of a similar murder in his native El Salvador.
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 there has been a 50% drop in illegal immigrant crossings since Biden announced an executive order in June limiting crossings into the U.S.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Harris campaign and the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw, Anders Hagstrom and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.