HOUSTON – Sen. Ted Cruz held a press conference Friday morning on the “Justice for Jocelyn Act” to crack down on the Department of Homeland Security’s “Alternative to Detention.”
Cruz was joined by Alexis Nungaray, the mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray who was strangled to death on a bridge by two men from Venezuela.
Harris County District Attorney, Kim Ogg, Representative Troy Nehls, Texas businessman and founder of Galley Furniture, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, and Andy Kahan, Crime Stopper’s Director of Victim Services and Advocacy were also in attendance at the news conference.
Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and 26-year-old Franklin Jose Peña Ramos have since been charged with capital murder.
Nungaray’s body was found June 17 in a shallow creek after police said she sneaked out of her nearby home the night before. She was strangled to death, according to the medical examiner. Prosecutors allege the men took off her pants, tied her up and killed her before throwing her body in the bayou.
Martinez-Rangel and Peña Ramos, who are Venezuelan nationals, entered the country illegally, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Martinez-Rangel was apprehended by Border Patrol agents near El Paso on March 14 and Peña was apprehended on May 28, also near El Paso. The statement said it is unknown exactly when or where the men crossed the border. Both were released and given notices to appear in court at a later date.
Both Peña and Martinez-Rangel are now under immigration holds by federal authorities, meaning they would remain in custody even if they could post bond.
Cruz and U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls introduced the Justice for Jocelyn Act in the Senate and Houston of Representatives in July to improve the detention and tracking of illegal immigrants entering the U.S.
TIMELINE: Significant events surrounding death 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray
The Justice for Jocelyn Act would crack down on “Alternative to Detention” (ATD) by requiring every ICE detention bed to be filled, and, if filled, would require the Secretary of DHS to exhaust all reasonable efforts to keep an immigrant in custody. If released, the immigrant would have to wear a GPS monitor until it’s removed by the country or once all immigration proceedings are complete.