'Those Questions Deserve Answers': Grieving Father's Emotional Testimony Stuns Senate Committee

[0:00] Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution to Order. [0:03] Thank you all for being here. [0:04] Today's topic is protecting American citizenship to federalism, sanctuary cities, and the rule [0:10] of law. [0:10] This topic is unfortunately timely as Americans have been inundated in recent weeks with stories [0:17] of fellow Americans victimized by criminal illegal aliens who've been shielded by these [0:22] sanctuary jurisdictions. [0:23] I'll start with my opening statement, and then my friend and ranking member Welsh will [0:32] give his opening remarks, Senator Cornyn will have remarks, and then Senator Durbin's here [0:36] after that, and we'll swear everybody in and go down the line. [0:41] There are moments when a policy debate stops being a policy debate, when all the abstractions [0:46] fall away, when all the buzzwords and talking points and legal jargon fall away, and what [0:53] we're left with is a very simple question about the first duty of government. [0:56] Sanctuary politics. [0:57] Sanctuary policies force this question, because this is not really about federalism, it's [1:02] not really about local control, and it certainly isn't about compassion. [1:06] It's about who comes first, the American citizen or the illegal alien. [1:12] And sanctuary jurisdictions have answered that question. [1:15] They've answered it with their laws, they've answered it with their policies, they've answered [1:19] it with their conduct. [1:20] They put the illegal alien first. [1:23] That is what a sanctuary policy means in the real world. [1:26] An illegal alien commits a crime and gets arrested by local law enforcement. [1:31] That arrest tells government exactly where the person is. [1:36] Federal immigration authorities then make a very simple request. [1:40] Let us know when this person is being released so that we can take him into custody and begin [1:45] the removal proceedings. [1:47] That is not some extraordinary burden. [1:50] That is not a constitutional crisis. [1:52] That is not conscription. [1:54] That is basic cooperation. [1:55] It's the kind of coordination that happens every single day between state, local and [2:01] federal law enforcement in every other context. [2:02] And yet, when the subject is immigration, sanctuary jurisdictions refuse. [2:08] They withhold the information, they block the transfer, they release the alien. [2:13] And then they send the alien back into the community. [2:17] That is a choice, a very deliberate choice. [2:20] And it's a choice that gets people hurt. [2:23] Sometimes it gets people killed. [2:25] The defenders of these policies always want to keep this debate at a level of theory. [2:30] They want to talk about values and discretion and trust and constitutional structure. [2:34] They never want to talk about the consequences. [2:38] But the consequences are the story. [2:40] The consequences look like Lake and Riley, murdered by an illegal alien who had already [2:46] had encounters with law enforcement and was still turned loose in a system that puts ideology [2:51] ahead of public safety. [2:53] The consequences look like Stephanie Minter, an American mother whose killer was shielded [2:59] by Fairfax County's sanctuary policies. [3:02] The consequences look like Sheridan Gorman. [3:07] An 18-year-old college student in Chicago shot in the back while walking with friends [3:12] by an illegal alien who had already been caught at the border, released, arrested again, then [3:19] released again. [3:20] They look like Katie Abraham, a young woman in Illinois killed by an illegal immigrant [3:26] drunk driver who had already been deported once, re-entered the country, and evaded the [3:32] laws thanks to sanctuary policies. [3:36] These are not freak accidents. [3:38] These are not acts of God. [3:39] They are foreseeable consequences of public officials making a conscious decision to obstruct [3:46] immigration enforcement and release people who should never have been released back onto [3:50] the streets in the first place. [3:52] And then, after it happens, the same people who made those choices hide behind the language [3:58] of principle. [3:59] Let's be honest about that. [4:01] The anti-commandeering doctrine is not a suicide pact. [4:04] It does not require local officials to sabotage federal law enforcement. [4:10] It does not require them to conceal release dates. [4:13] It does not require them to dump removable criminal aliens back into the public and pretend [4:18] their hands were tied. [4:19] This is not constitutional fidelity. [4:23] This is political evasion. [4:25] It is taking a theory meant to protect the balance of our system and using it to cover [4:31] for lawlessness, because that's what sanctuary policy really is. [4:36] Lawlessness dressed up as principle. [4:39] It says federal immigration law can be ignored. [4:41] It says cooperation is unlawful. [4:42] It says cooperation is optional. [4:44] It says the safety of the American people comes second to an ideological project. [4:48] And that brings us back to the question at the center of this hearing. [4:53] Who comes first? [4:56] The American citizen trying to raise a family, go to school, walk home safely and live in [5:01] peace? [5:02] Or the illegal alien who has no right to be here and in many of these cases has already [5:07] shown he's a danger to the public? [5:10] Sanctuary policies answer that very question every single time. [5:13] Every time they refuse to notify ICE. [5:15] Every time they refuse to honor a detainer. [5:18] Every time they release a removable criminal alien instead of coordinating a transfer. [5:23] Every time they treat immigration law as some optional suggestion instead of the law [5:28] of the United States of America. [5:31] And every single time their answer is the same. [5:34] The illegal alien comes first. [5:36] Not Lake and Riley. [5:37] Not Stephanie Minter. [5:39] Not Sheridan Gorman. [5:40] Not Katie Abraham. [5:41] The illegal alien. [5:44] Mr. Abraham said it plainly in his op-ed. [5:46] My daughter Katie was killed by a man who should never have been here. [5:51] And he was right. [5:53] Policies that predictably create victims are not moral no matter how compassionately the [6:00] politicians describe them. [6:01] An empty chair remains at the family's table. [6:06] More empty chairs will appear at more family tables unless we end this madness. [6:11] I understand that it is uncomfortable for some of my friends on the other side to confront [6:16] the reality that their sanctuary policies and open border actions are not the only [6:20] reason for their ideology and are producing preventable crimes against American citizens. [6:27] But we must confront it. [6:29] Sanctuary policies are getting American citizens killed. [6:33] The American people know it. [6:34] And deep down, Democrats know it. [6:36] The path forward is not complicated. [6:38] It does not require new theories or sweeping innovations. [6:42] It requires nothing more than restoring the most basic principle of government. [6:46] That American citizens come first. [6:48] State and local governments should cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. [6:52] Tell federal government to do its job. [6:54] Deport criminal illegal aliens. [6:56] Prioritize the safety of American citizens over the demands of a radical ideology. [7:00] That is not extreme. [7:02] That is common sense. [7:04] At its core, this hearing turns on a simple question. [7:08] When the choice is presented, alert federal immigration authorities and protect the community [7:14] or release the illegal alien, who comes first? [7:17] The American citizens should come first every single time. [7:19] Lakin Riley, Stephanie Mentor, Sheridan Gorman, Katie Abraham. [7:23] They should come first. [7:24] The American people have already answered that question. [7:27] It's time for Congress to insist on the same. [7:30] Mr. Abraham. [7:31] Chairman Schmidt, ranking member, members of the committee. [7:36] Every parent in this room understands that there are moments in life that split time in two. [7:41] Everything before and then everything after. [7:44] For me, that moment came January 19th, 2025. [7:48] Before that day, I was a father watching my children grow into adulthood, enjoying the simple privilege of seeing their lives unfold. [7:57] After that day, I became a father who buried his 20-year-old daughter. [8:01] So before I begin, I want you to picture something pretty ordinary. [8:07] A car sitting at a red light idol. [8:10] Five young friends inside. [8:12] Talking, laughing, having a normal night. [8:15] My daughter Katie was in the back seat. [8:17] Car wasn't moving. It was at a red light. [8:19] In a single instant, my daughter's life was gone. [8:23] An intoxicated, illegal immigrant slammed into the back of her car at 80 miles an hour. [8:28] They never saw that coming. [8:31] First responders fought to pull my daughter's dead body out of that car. [8:36] She didn't survive. [8:39] The man who caused the crash, Julio Cuco Bull, a Guatemalan national who had already been deported, [8:48] ran but was eventually captured in Milford, Texas, trying to escape the country. [8:54] Despite federal authorities knowing who he was, he was able to reenter the United States in 2022 [9:01] and live in Illinois under a false identity. [9:04] Because state policies and enforcement gaps fail to protect people. [9:08] The public. The public. [9:10] Katie was a compassionate, funny, sharp-witted. [9:14] She had friends from many different backgrounds. [9:16] And she had a way of everyone, making everyone feel seen, heard, and valued. [9:21] She was also a strong athlete. [9:23] Water polo and swam competitively through high school. [9:26] Katie deserved a future full of love, laughter, and life. [9:30] Graduating college, building a career, falling in love, and experiencing all the joys and heartbreak of adulthood. [9:39] Instead, that was stolen. [9:40] At a red light in a street in Illinois. [9:43] The man who killed her described himself in court as unable to read or write English, even Spanish. [9:51] He spoke a Chi-Mayan language from Guatemala. [9:57] Yet somehow, he possessed an Illinois driver's license . [10:00] So when a system sends signals that borders are porous, that deportations are ignored, [10:06] and that enforcement is unlikely, people who are willing to ignore the law will take advantage of those conditions. [10:13] That is not a complicated idea. [10:16] That is human behavior. [10:18] It's predictable. [10:21] And when those incentives exist, the consequences are not abstract. [10:25] Families like mine live with them forever. [10:28] My parents immigrated legally to the United States from a third world country. [10:34] They came here for the opportunity America offered to people who work hard, follow the law, and contribute to society. [10:40] My parents honored that opportunity. [10:44] And they raised us to respect the law. [10:46] But that trust was broken. [10:48] By the government sworn to protect its citizens. [10:52] Katie's death was not inevitable. [10:55] It was preventable. [10:57] That's the question before this committee. [11:00] Not whether crime exists in society. [11:03] It always has. [11:05] Not whether citizens commit more crime than aliens. [11:09] That's a complete deflection and completely irrelevant to the types of these situations. [11:18] The question is whether policy decisions increase or decrease preventable risk. [11:23] Did failures in enforcement matter? [11:27] Did gaps in coordination matter? [11:30] Did policy choices create conditions that allowed this to happen? [11:34] Those questions deserve clear answers. [11:38] Because intentions don't save lives. [11:41] Results do. [11:42] Katie's not a headline. [11:45] She was not a statistic. [11:48] She was someone worth more than being ignored and made invisible, especially in my state. [11:53] Just because her story was inconvenient. [11:57] She was my daughter. [12:02] She should be finishing school right now. [12:05] She should be planning for her future. [12:08] She should still be laughing with her family and friends. [12:12] Instead, her urn sits in a room we constructed to remember her life. [12:19] I can't bring Katie back. [12:23] But this committee has the power to examine what failed. [12:26] To demand transparency. [12:29] And to ensure policies are judged not by their intentions, but by their outcomes. [12:35] Every preventable death deserves that level of seriousness. [12:40] Katie received a death sentence that night. [12:42] We received a life sentence. [12:44] I ask this committee to ensure that what happened to my daughter is examined honestly. [12:50] And that meaningful steps are taken so fewer families ever have to stand where I stand.