00:00Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. And let me echo the condolences that he said not to give.
00:10Regardless, as someone who I don't think will ever get comfortable with trying to explain the unexplainable,
00:18specifically to parents, there is a due order that we all believe will exist,
00:25especially when you bring your beautiful child into this world.
00:30And the one thing that no parent ever anticipates is for that order to be disrupted.
00:41Prior to coming to Congress, I was frustrated.
00:46I did a lot of the same work that Mr. Romanucci does.
00:51I had to face so many parents that lost their children and shouldn't have.
00:59Whether it was doing the civil rights work or whether it was sometimes being the criminal defense attorney that would
01:07have to walk into court and represent people and make sure that their due process rights were preserved
01:13because they had been accused of killing somebody else.
01:19So I will say that I agree with the chairman when he says that speeches cannot suffice.
01:26They never have. They never have. They never will.
01:30But I must say that our actions have to speak louder than any words.
01:35And one of the reasons that I got into politics is because I felt like politicians are very good at
01:42lip service.
01:44And frankly, this hearing is a hearing that we have had over and over and over, where we've talked about
01:53sanctuary cities.
01:55And it frustrates me, if I'm being perfectly honest, because it doesn't lead to solutions.
02:03It feels like political gamesmanship.
02:06And the chairman is my friend.
02:11But I always keep it as real as I can.
02:14So I want to say thank you to each and every one of you for being here today.
02:19And let me be clear about something.
02:21Anyone who commits a crime, especially a violent crime, should be fully held accountable.
02:28No matter their citizenship status, race, sex, how much money they do or don't have,
02:34whether they went to school or not, or even if they're a government official, no one should be above the
02:42law.
02:43I've listened to similar witnesses give their accounts and their stories.
02:50But specifically, as it relates to the witnesses that sit before us today, I've read your written testimony.
02:59And I agree with some of the specific things that have been said in your written testimony.
03:05For example, Ms. Fox, that policies have consequences and that public policy should not require a threshold of victims before
03:16it's taken seriously.
03:17The only people in disagreement with this statement are the Republicans on this committee.
03:22They've held multiple hearings on this topic, but still haven't invited the families of anyone killed by ICE or who
03:29have died while in ICE's custody.
03:32More people died in ICE's custody last year than any time in the 21st century.
03:37And Republicans still haven't invited any of their families to testify before this committee.
03:43ICE and CBP have either shot or shot at at least 24 people, including American citizens.
03:51Some have died. Others have been severely injured.
03:55A college student even had to have their eye removed after being shot in the face.
04:00Republicans have not invited any of their families to testify before this committee.
04:04As far as I know, Republicans have not even contacted the families of those killed or harmed.
04:10What our witnesses went through is tragic and devastating.
04:15And their loved ones.
04:19You deserve justice.
04:22But I have to be clear and say that their lives are not worth more nor less than, say,
04:29the life of Rene Good or the life of Alex Preddy or the life of Ruben Martinez, a 23-year
04:35-old U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by ICE in March of 2025.
04:39Or the life of Miramar Martinez, a 30-year-old U.S. citizen who was shot five times by federal
04:44agents.
04:45Now, Ms. Martinez miraculously survived.
04:47But to Ms. Fox's point, it, quote, should not require a threshold of victims before it is taken seriously.
04:57Just six months after federal agents murdered Ruben Martinez, they tried to murder Miramar Martinez but failed.
05:03Just two and a half months later, federal agents killed Rene Good.
05:07Just 17 days after that, federal agents killed Alex Preddy.
05:10And each time, Republicans on this committee have blamed the victims.
05:15If they had only been exercising their First Amendment rights, they'd be alive today.
05:21Or if Martinez hadn't, Ms. Martinez hadn't panicked after federal agents ran up behind her, put an AR-15 to
05:30her head and said, quote,
05:31Do something, bitch.
05:33If she had just stayed calm, maybe she wouldn't have been shot five times.
05:38This is what failed policy looks like.
05:40And these families deserve to have a voice when they're discussing immigration enforcement policies in the United States.
05:48Republicans would rather parade families experiencing tragedy around the halls of Congress for political purposes
05:54than to actually fix our broken immigration system.
05:58In fact, I don't know how many people remember.
06:03But prior to the presidential election, the House and the Senate had worked on legislation.
06:10And there was a candidate that did not want us to take up the legislation because they wanted to campaign
06:17on a broken system.
06:18The bad part about campaigning on broken systems is that they continue to allow for harm to be permeated
06:26throughout the entirety of our country.
06:28And that's exactly what happened.
06:30And that's what's happening right now.
06:32In fact, Republicans are ignoring all crime across the United States.
06:36They refuse to enforce congressional subpoenas to advance the investigation into the Epstein pedophile ring.
06:41They've been completely silent on the fact that Donald Trump issued unconditional pardons for January 6th insurrectionists,
06:48many of whom were convicted on separate charges of rape, stalking, child abuse, domestic violence, drug trafficking, and possession of
06:55child porn.
06:56For months, they've ignored Trump's and Hexef's war crimes when they ordered the killings of non-combatant civilians,
07:03many of whom were just fishermen.
07:05And now they're ignoring the president's illegal war and genocidal threats against the Iranian people.
07:11Republicans have completely abandoned the American people.
07:14ATF case referrals are down, DEA case referrals are down, the number of weapons seized by DHS dropped by almost
07:2180%, drug arrests are down.
07:23In just the first six months of his administration, Trump's DOJ ended 23,000 criminal cases,
07:30including investigations into terrorism, tax evasion, drug trafficking, and other violent crimes.
07:36And Republicans on this committee haven't held a single hearing, started any investigations, or done anything about it.
07:43Drug traffickers, men who prey on children, murderers, and potential terrorists are all roaming the streets of America
07:49because they'd rather use these families' tragedy for political gain.
07:55I'm going to be real honest about this.
07:58Your children should be here today.
08:01Believe me when I tell you that, and while I sit in this imperfect government,
08:08and we all know that government is run by imperfect people because we are all human,
08:14there are policies that can be changed.
08:17And it would be my hope and prayer that we start to bring about policy changes that can prevent
08:24loss of life all around.
08:27Right now, as federally elected officials, the one thing that we could do to start to save at least
08:34some folk is to focus on the fact that we have what seems to be government-sanctioned violence
08:42that is leading to people dying.
08:45And we are the ones that oversee these government officials, and I would encourage
08:49the chairman to hold a hearing so that we can do that part because we are not elected
08:56to run any city.
08:58We are elected on the federal level, and we are the ones that are supposed to have oversight over
09:02DHS and others, and with that I will yield.
09:08Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
09:12Download the One India app now.
Comments