Expect Immigration to be a Bone of Contention in First 2024 Biden/Trump Presidential Debate

Kill kids in Texas; you get the death penalty.

That little girl would be alive today if Biden enforced immigration laws at the border. https://t.co/baw0HXa0J9

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 21, 2024

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will debate this evening, the first debate of the 2024 Presidential campaign.  Expect immigration to be a topic of discussion.

There is a news story that may well come up tonight.  Many news outlets, including CNN, have reported in recent days on a case in which two immigrants have been charged with the murder of a young woman in Texas.  Do not be surprised the tragedy is brought up in the debate.

“Two undocumented Venezuelan men have been charged with capital murder in the killing this month of a 12-year-old girl in Houston . . . . Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, were arrested June 20, three days after the strangled body of Jocelyn Nungaray was found in a shallow creek, according to the Houston Police Department. . . . Both men are Venezuelan nationals who entered the US illegally . . . . [E]ach was apprehended near El Paso by US Border Patrol – Martinez-Rangel on March 14 and Peña Ramos on May 28 – and released with a notice to appear in court in the future.”

Republicans and conservative media have blamed the tragedy on the immigration policies of President Biden.

“That little girl would be alive today if Biden enforced immigration laws at the border,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said on X (see above).

Former President Trump has said as much, saying in a speech over the weekend both suspects “would not have been in our country” if he were president. He also pointed to the cases of two women who authorities say were killed in the past year by men who crossed into the country illegally: Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and Maryland mother Rachel Morin.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, “Our hearts are with the families of the victims.”

KJ