Sen. Marsha Blackburn and other members of Tennessee's Republican delegation demanded answers about the immigration status of an immigrant accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the restroom of a Nashville ice cream shop last week.
"Since the President took office, there have been nearly 10 million illegal immigrant encounters, and there have been nearly 2 million known 'gotaways' who have evaded detection from border patrol and entered the United States," members of the delegation wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seeking answers about the immigration status of Nelson Yovani Ortiz-Ramirez, who was charged in the attack.
Republican Reps. Tim Burchett, Scott DesJarlais, Chuck Fleischmann, Mark Green, Diana Harshbarger, David Kustoff, Andy Ogles, and John Rose of Tennessee also signed the letter.
"Just as concerning, over 350 migrants encountered by border patrol were on the terrorist watchlist — 75 of whom were apprehended in this fiscal year," the letter continued. "Yet again, Tennesseans have been forced to bear the brunt of President Biden's border crisis.”
Ortiz-Ramirez, 23, is facing charges of attempted kidnapping, sexual battery, public intoxication, and evading arrest after he allegedly followed a woman into a bathroom at the Nashville Sundae Club and groped her.
He is being held on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer.
"This illegal migrant allegedly followed a woman to the bathroom at a local coffee shop, groping her and forcing her into the bathroom, where the woman feared she would be raped," the lawmakers said in their message to Mayorkas. "Fortunately, this brave woman was able to push Ortiz-Ramirez away and call the police. But this despicable incident would never have happened without your reckless and irresponsible open border policies."
The incident, they added, "is only the latest in a series of unconscionable acts by illegal immigrants who have entered our country."
Last summer, they noted, an illegal immigrant in Franklin, Tennessee, was arrested after co-workers discovered photos and videos on his phone of him raping and abusing unconscious children.
They also noted the February killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, 22.
Earlier this month, Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra was indicted on 10 charges, including murder and a new charge that he allegedly assaulted Riley during an attempted rape.
"If you or this administration actually enforced our immigration laws, these heinous acts would never have taken place," the delegation told Mayorkas in the letter.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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