A new bill introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) honoring the life of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray — who was allegedly murdered by two illegal migrants — aims to make it harder for asylum seekers to be released into the country after they are processed at the southern border.
The legislation, introduced Thursday and nicknamed the “Justice for Jocelyn Act,” would require Homeland Security officials to exhaust “all reasonable efforts to hold aliens in detention” by determining if “all detention beds available to the Secretary have been filled” before migrants who crossed into the US illegally are released.
If officials can’t find space in a detention facility, a migrant must then be required to wear an ankle monitor until they complete their immigration court proceedings.
Illegal border crossers would also be subject to a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., the bill, which was also introduced by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), proposes.
If migrants violate any terms of their release, federal authorities would be empowered to deport them.
Jocelyn was allegedly tortured and killed by two illegal Venezuelan migrants who were released into the US with future court dates.
Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, have been charged with capital murder after they allegedly lured Jocelyn to a bridge, assaulted her for two hours then strangled her to death and dumped her body into a Houston bayou.
Jocelyn, who was found naked from the waist down on June 17, was also sexually assaulted during the heinous attack.
Jocelyn’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, said in a statement that the bill “would have prevented Jocelyn’s death,” adding that “It would have prevented her two murderers from being on the street and it would have meant that Jocelyn would be here with us today.”
Pena Ramos, who crossed the border in May, was wearing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) GPS ankle monitor at the time of the attack, Homeland Security sources previously told The Post. He then cut it while on the run from authorities after the killing.
Rangel Martinez, who crossed the border on March 14, was disenrolled from the tracking program just two months after entering the country because he had no known criminal past and had complied with required check-ins, sources said.
