The head of the Border Patrol union blasted Vice President Kamala Harris for choosing to “party like a fool” in Houston with singer Beyonce rather than meet with families of crime victims who were allegedly killed by illegal immigrants admitted into the country under her watch.
Paul Perez, president of the National Border Patrol Council, slammed the Democratic presidential nominee for ignoring the issue of “Kamala migrant crime” during her Friday visit to Houston, where, in June, 12-year-old resident Jocelyn Nungaray was murdered. Two suspects have been identified as illegal immigrants.
“I want to talk about the person who is going to be coming to Houston tonight, not to apologize or highlight illegal alien crime, but to party like a fool on stage with celebrities instead of apologizing to the families,” Perez said Friday afternoon at an event for former President Donald Trump in Austin, Texas.
“This is somebody who likes to brag about being a former federal prosecutor, who prosecuted transnational gangs and cartel members,” Perez said. “She knew better, President Trump — she knew better than most — exactly the threat that these people, these animals, create. The threat that they bring to our community that will harm our families and these scumbags listed here on these pictures here are part of the Kamala crime wave.”
The Border Patrol union, composed of roughly 17,000 agents, endorsed Trump during a campaign rally in Arizona on Oct. 13.
Trump, who is expected to win the electoral votes in Texas on Nov. 5, said the United States had turned into a “garbage can” for other countries’ criminals.
“We’re like a garbage can for the rest of the world to dump the people that they don’t want,” Trump said.
Trump highlighted violent crimes committed in the U.S. during the Biden-Harris administration, including by gang members from MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, Salvadoran and Venezuelan gangs, respectively, that have set up strongholds across the U.S.
Alexis Nungaray, the mother of Jocelyn, joined Trump at the event and said she had yet to hear from Harris following her daughter’s death.
“Kamala Harris has never reached out to me,” Nungaray said.
“Kamala Harris has never reached out to me” says Alexis Nungaray, mother to Jocelyn Nungaray who was killed by an illegal migrant 💔
LISTEN! pic.twitter.com/A9cwb9bMid
— Margo Martin (@margommartin) October 25, 2024
In a mid-October Fox News interview, Harris was asked if she owed an apology to Nungaray’s mother and other families.
“Those are tragic cases. There’s no question about that,” said Harris, who added that she could not “imagine the pain that the families of those victims have experienced for a loss that should not have occurred.”
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Also on Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) called for Harris to declare Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization while visiting Houston.
“In fact, today she’s in Houston, the same city where innocent 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was raped and murdered by two Tren de Aragua gang members. Jocelyn, her family, and all Americans deserve better,” Abbott said in a statement.
“Vice President Harris must follow Texas’ lead and designate Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization immediately,” said Abbott, who declared TDA as a foreign terrorist organization in September. “But that’s just a start. The Biden-Harris Administration must use the full weight of the federal government to eradicate them once and for all—for Jocelyn and for every American.”
Harris is in Texas to shine a spotlight on reproductive freedom in a state that has banned most abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. With the help of Houston native Beyonce, whose song “Freedom” has become the Democratic nominee’s campaign anthem, Harris also hopes to boost Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), who is seeking to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
“In just four years as president, Donald Trump was able to erase half a century of hard-fought progress for women,” Harris is expected to say, per excerpts of her remarks. “And now, he wants to go even further. Let us be clear: If Donald Trump wins again, he will ban abortion nationwide.”
Trump’s visit to Austin was to tape an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan. It coincided with an open letter to voters that 200 former border and immigration federal agents signed Friday endorsing Trump over Harris.
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“The single most important factor when evaluating the candidates should be ensuring the safety and security of the United States. Of the countless issues to consider, every one of them is dependent upon our national security,” the letter reads.
“Assuming you care about border security as much as we do, the choice is clear,” the signers continued. “President Trump is the only candidate that we can trust to secure our nation’s borders.”