The Democratic district attorney in a Houston-area county where 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was allegedly raped and murdered by two Venezuelan illegal immigrants blamed the “broken” immigration system for the girl’s death.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg rebuked federal law enforcement at the southern border for letting Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, into the United States after they were caught illegally entering near El Paso, Texas, this spring.
“They should have never been released when they crossed over into El Paso, but we have a broken system, and Jocelyn’s death resulted,” Ogg said in a recent interview with local media outlet KPRC. “It’s just hard when you know something could have been prevented like a child’s death.”
Nungaray was found deceased early in the morning on June 16. Court records said Nungaray had snuck out of her home late the previous night and gone to 7-Eleven, where she encountered the two suspects after they had partied at a local restaurant, according to KPRC.
The two are alleged to have lured her to a private area where they raped and then strangled her before throwing her body into a creek to get rid of DNA evidence. One suspect reportedly searched how to get out of the U.S. before police arrested them.
“Our immigration system is broken, and if ever there was a case that reflected that, it’s this one,” Ogg added.
Ogg’s statements echo those made by the Biden administration, including Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has called on Congress since 2021 to fix the “broken immigration system.” Republicans, meanwhile, squarely place blame at President Joe Biden’s feet, pointing to his decision to undo Trump-era border policies upon assuming office.
As illegal immigrant arrests have increased to record-high levels under Biden, a greater percentage of people arriving are from faraway countries, not just Mexico and northern Central America. Hundreds of thousands of migrants from countries including Venezuela, Cuba, and Russia have arrived at the border.
“It’s not just immigrants from Mexico. We’re seeing immigrants from China, from the islands, from South America, like these individuals,” Ogg said. “I think it’s increasing the risk factor for regular people here. So I’m hoping that our government will work together in a bipartisan fashion to keep the public safe by making our borders safer.”
The Biden administration has largely arrested and then released into the U.S. most illegal immigrants due to an inability to fly back as many people as are being encountered and a preference against detaining people in jail through yearslong immigration proceedings.
Although the Department of Homeland Security has stated it is screening and vetting illegal immigrants before it releases them into the country, some governments, like Venezuela, do not share criminal database information with the U.S., making it impossible for federal law enforcement at the border to know each person’s entire history.
Despite Ogg’s complaints, Houston is a sanctuary city, which means the city has elected not to turn over illegal immigrants in custody to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement except for rare cases in which a serious crime has been committed. In Nungaray’s case, ICE has placed a request for the city to hold the suspects for federal officers to take custody.
However, ICE would not transfer the two men into its custody and begin deportation proceedings until after they have completed their sentence, if convicted.
Ogg berated the federal government for releasing both men with ankle monitor devices and said it gave Houston residents a false sense of security that the government was tracking illegal immigrants it released into the country.
“One of them cut it off. The ankle monitors give the public a false sense of security. We don’t rely on them as prosecutors because we see too many problems with folks who are supposed to be under supervision and yet aren’t,” Ogg said. “And that’s the case with these two guys. They should have never been released when they crossed over in El Paso.”
Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain of Houston blamed Ogg and the Biden administration for endorsing immigration policies that he said had protected illegal immigrants.
“Harris County has become a sanctuary for criminals, and the blame is not just on the Biden administration, but it’s on the DA’s office,” Cain, a Republican, told Fox News Digital.
Ogg lost her Democratic primary in March to a former prosecutor from her office, Sean Teare, who will take on Republican attorney Dan Simons in November. Cain implored Houston voters to select the Republican come this fall.
“In November: Republicans support legislation that could have allowed Texas to arrest and deport these monsters before they could harm anyone. Democrats want them to stay in the U.S. indefinitely. Vote accordingly,” Cain wrote in a post to X on June 25.
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The defendants were charged with capital murder. Life without parole is the maximum punishment for the murder of a child between the ages of 10 and 15, but an underlying felony conviction of sexual assault could make them eligible for the death penalty, Ogg said.
Each suspect is being held on a $10 million bond.
