Wendy Corcoran, whose son was killed by an illegal immigrant in an automobile crash in 2018, said she’s worried many more families will experience the same heartbreak as she did due to the surge of people allowed into the country under President Biden.
“We just pray no other families have to go through it but we sadly learned recently it’s happening more often with the current administration,” Ms. Corcoran said on “Unmuted with Marsha,” the podcast of Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, who has long pushed for a crackdown on illegal immigration.
Pierce Corcoran was 22 in December 2018 when he was driving a Honda Civic, and an SUV swerved over the center line and smashed into his car head-on.
Francisco Eduardo Franco-Cambrany faces a host of charges including negligent homicide and driving without a license. He was deported to Mexico before the criminal case could be completed.
In recent weeks the U.S. has been gripped with stories of other crimes attributed to illegal immigrants. They include the slaying of Laken Riley, 22, a nursing student killed during her morning run on a college campus; a 19-year-old Honduran man accused of raping a juvenile in Louisiana, and a Haitian man accused of raping a fellow migrant — a juvenile girl — at a state-run migrant shelter in Massachusetts.
“Our young women are at huge risk, and I don’t think people really get that,” Ms. Corcoran said. “We just hope it doesn’t happen to other families, but we feel like we are going to be looking at other families and saying, ‘Sorry that we couldn’t do more.’”
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Ms. Blackburn earlier this month reintroduced legislation to pressure state and local authorities to cooperate with Homeland Security, including on deportation “detainer” requests. Those who don’t want to cooperate would lose some federal funding.
The bill would require better information sharing between locals and the feds, with Homeland Security required to take custody of illegal immigrants locals flagged for them.
Ms. Blackburn said it’s Americans who are suffering from the current migrant surge, and the spate of high-profile crimes blamed on illegal immigrants.
“It is citizens that are paying the price for it,” she said. “They are paying for the benefits that illegal immigrants receive. They’re paying for the food, the shelter, the clothing, the education, the iPhone and the plane ticket to wherever they want to go in the country.”
Ms. Corcoran is one of those who have become known as “Angel Moms,” whose children were victims of illegal immigrant crimes.
Angel Moms’ profiles have grown in recent years, thanks in large part to Republicans such as Ms. Blackburn and former President Donald Trump, who have given the parents a platform to share their grief and their calls for solutions.
Mr. Trump’s Homeland Security Department even created a special office to conduct outreach to the families. But under Mr. Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas shuttered the office and instead opened one that allowed illegal immigrants to complain about their treatment in detention centers.
Two Angel Moms testified earlier this year during committee proceedings that led to the House’s vote impeaching Mr. Mayorkas.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.