HOUSTON — The brutal murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray is sparking national headlines and shining a light on the politics of illegal immigration at the southern border.
Franklin Peña, 26, and Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, are both charged with charged with capital murder in her death. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the two "illegally entered the U.S. without inspection, parole or admission by a U.S. immigration officer on an unknown date and at an unknown location."
Peña and Martinez-Rangel were seen on surveillance video with Jocelyn before she was found dead in a north Houston creek the morning of Monday, June 17.
Her heinous murder case now becoming a political talking point. At a conference in Washington D.C. Saturday, Trump spoke about the case.
"12-year-old Jocelyn found strangled allegedly murdered by two recent illegal border crossers. Viciously murdered. These monsters shouldn't have been in our country. If I were president they would not have been. We had a strong border. We had protection," Trump said.
A White House spokesperson also commented on Jocelyn's murder, sending condolences to the family and calling on the suspects to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
Closer to home on Sunday, a post made by Harris County Pct. 4 Constable Mark Herman mentioning Jocelyn's murder went viral.
In the post, Constable Herman said, "Migrant crime has arrived in our area with a vengeance."
Houston's chapter of LULAC, the largest Latino civil rights organization in the country, condemned Herman's comments.
"Some folks are going to use this tragic heinous crime for political purposes and it's very unfortunate," said the chapter's president, Dr. Sergio Lira.
Herman went on to say in part, "Our deputies have had an increase in migrant contacts in our communities and they are among us. We have no idea who these people are and know nothing about them."
"He's saying he's had a lot more encounters with migrants. What does that really mean?" FIEL Executive Director Cesar Espinoza said in response.
When asked, Herman told KHOU 11 News he had no official data to back that "increase in migrant contacts."
LULAC's local chapter said Herman's post is meant to incite fear and lump all immigrants as criminals.
"We know what happened in El Paso with this rhetoric anti-immigrant and anti-migrant," Lira said. "The migrants that are here commit less crime as opposed to U.S. citizens."
A Stanford study found since the 1960s to the present, immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born people.
A 2019 Cato Institute study in Texas found undocumented immigrants were 37.1% less likely to be convicted of a crime.
"Lumping any community for the mistakes of a few is not a good thing to do, it's not the right thing to do," said Espinoza.
Local Latino groups say the focus should remain on supporting Jocelyn and her family and not using them to score political points.
"Evil does not discriminate whether you're a U.S. citizen, undocumented or seeking asylum as a refugee," said Lira.
KHOU 11 News reached out to Herman for an interview. He declined the opportunity.
Ramos and Martinez-Rangel are being held on immigration detainers at the Harris County Jail.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced at a public vigil on Friday that Houston businessman Jim McIngvale would be covering the funeral expenses for the family.
The funeral service will take place at Earthman's Resthaven on I-45 at 1 p.m. on June 27. Her burial will be held after the service.