FIRST ON FOX: The mother of a woman who was allegedly killed by a Salvadoran illegal immigrant has written to Vice President Kamala Harris calling on her to “take immediate action” to close the border and require the removal of millions of illegal immigrants.
“I demand that you take immediate action today and sign an executive order closing our southern border. Furthermore, require every single person who has entered our country illegally over the past three and half years to return to their home countries,” Patty Morin says in a letter to Harris, first obtained by Fox News Digital.
“The time for decisive action is now. This is about protecting our citizens and ensuring that the immigrants who come to America are here to contribute to our great society.”
Patty Morin, who lost her daughter, testifies during a House Committee on Homeland Security at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 18, 2024. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Morin’s daughter Rachel was killed while jogging in Bel Air, Maryland, last year. Police found Rachel’s body stuffed in a culvert and, after a months-long investigation, identified her suspected killer as an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who is also accused of murder in his home country and raping a mother and her 9-year-old daughter in Los Angeles.
He made three unsuccessful attempts to enter the United States before making it across the border on Feb. 13, 2023, near El Paso, Texas, authorities said.
The case is one of a number of high-profile crimes involving illegal immigrants, drawing additional attention to the ongoing effects of the crisis at the southern border, which saw record numbers come into the U.S. under the Biden administration. Critics blame the crisis on the policies of the administration.
In her letter, Morin described Rachel as a “bright light, an American mom who adored her family and devoted her life to her five children.”
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“While we can’t bring Rachel back, we can protect other American women, children, and families. This type of violence perpetrated by illegal immigrants can easily be prevented,” she says, also reading the letter in a video.
In her letter, she tells Harris that she has “the opportunity to act now and save lives.”
“The American people are watching and will remember if this opportunity for change is met with silence or indifference,” she says.
Immigration and border security is a top issue in the 2024 election, and polling shows former President Trump leading Harris on the issue among voters.
Trump has promised to restart border wall construction, which was halted by the Biden administration, and launch a mass deportation program if elected to the White House.
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Harris has thrown her support behind a bipartisan border security bill that would increase funding to the border and limit some entries into the U.S. She has hammered Trump for not supporting it, accusing him of torpedoing the bill for political purposes. She has promised to sign the bill if elected to the White House.
Conservatives have said the bill would enshrine high levels of illegal immigration, and have instead pushed legislation passed in the House last year that would also increase funding but would drastically limit asylum and end the use of parole by the administration.
While the administration has overseen a record number of border encounters, it has recently pointed to a sharp drop by more than 55% since the summer to a presidential proclamation signed by President Biden that limited asylum claims into the country, bringing numbers down to levels not seen since 2020.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.