Two family members of Americans who were murdered by illegal immigrants after those immigrants had been detained and released testified before Congress Wednesday, urging lawmakers to adopt more effective immigration policies.
The testimony is meant to highlight a recurring problem within the Department of Homeland Security: releasing criminal immigrants back into the country rather than deporting them, the National Review reported.
"My family's peace and freedom were stolen by an illegal alien from Mexico. He was brought here by his illegal alien parents and allowed to grow up as a wild animal," Jamiel Shaw said to an Oversight and Government Reform panel about the murder of his son, Jamiel Shaw II, committed by an illegal immigrant, Pedro Espinoza, reported Breitbart.
According to some estimates, the DHS released 36,000 convicted criminal illegal immigrants since 2013, and at least 1,000 of those have already committed new crimes, The Washington Times reported.
"Some people believe that if you are brought over by no fault of your own that it makes you a good person," Shaw continued. "They want us to believe that DREAM Act kids don't murder. I am here to debunk that myth. Kids brought over the border by no fault of their own do kill Americans. How many American's killed by illegal aliens are too many?"
Shaw's son was killed while walking on the street, just three doors away from his home, by an illegal immigrant who had recently been released from jail.
"He shot my son in the stomach and then in the head. Killing him. Do black lives really matter? Or does it matter only if you are shot by a white person or a while policeman? The district attorney proved in court that my son was murdered because he was black and wearing a Spiderman backpack," Shaw said, adding that he believes his son's death could have been prevented.
"Why was this violent illegal alien allowed to walk the streets of America, instead of being deported?" Shaw asked. "Why was ICE not called to pick up this violent invader? We were promised that the federal government would keep us safe from violent illegal aliens."
Michael Ronnebeck, whose nephew, Grant, was allegedly killed by an immigrant who faced deportation but was released into the country anyway, also testified on Wednesday.
"We want Grant's death to be a force for change and reform in the immigration policies of this great nation," Ronnebeck said in a prepared testimony obtained by National Review.
Ronnebeck claimed that the murderer was released by immigration officials twice, once after he pled guilty to a burglary, and a second time when he was awaiting a deportation hearing.
"I am asking you, our elected scholars, lawyers, and community leaders, to make these changes; to rise above your political differences, to set aside your personal interests, and to use your resources to make sensible immigration reform a reality in the coming months, so that tragedies like this might not ever occur again," Ronnebeck said.
Republican lawmakers hope the hearings will sway some opinions in the fight to reverse President Obama's executive immigration actions which would provide deportation amnesty and other federal benefits to some 5 million illegal immigrants.
